Merger
by Turismo11
Summary: A pair of strange machines send X and Zero to another world, where they encounter Sonic and friends. Together they try to uncover they mystery behind the strange cylindrical machines and stop a maverick uprising from tearing Mobius apart.
1. The Cylinders

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or Mega Man X. Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man X, and all related characters are copyright: Sega and Capcom. So in a way this fanfic belongs to them, even though I am writing it. This story is available free for reading by the public. Dr. Trek and "The Maverick" are copyright me though; I did essentially make them up. All rights reserved.

Notice: This fanfic does contain violence, (nothing ultra gory though), and minor harsh language.

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**Merger**

Chapter One: The Cylinders

Earth, 21XX

"Is it ready to go, Doctor Trek?" a purple armored maverick stands behind a worn-out human in a dirty and a bit torn lab coat. Despite only being in his early thirties, this human stands as if he is sixty. The fact his hair is gray and done in a ragged mullet does not help improve this image. Even the light from the monitors in the room fail to enhance his haggard complexion.

"Yes Vile," the doctor states tiredly, "it's ready to go. It'll grant you the 'freedom' you so desire."

Vile Mark VI, the lasted version of the infamous maverick, takes a couple of steps forward. He looks up and admires the machine before him. As stated before, his armor purple with yellow trim much like the first Vile. Much like his predecessors, this Vile sports a large cannon on his back that leans over his right shoulder. He also has two fully automatic machine pistols holstered at his waist. They maybe a bit retro, but they are still effective weapons.

The machine Vile is admiring is a tall cylindrical device that reaches all the way up to the ceiling. A myriad of lights, spread all across in 90-degree patterns, glow in a fade-in/fadeout manner. Around the center of the cylinder, the blades of a turbine can be seen in a circle around the machine. Vile looks down at a monitor and notices the power gauge for this cylinder is sitting at 5%. This is normal since the machine is currently in standby mode.

"May I return to my cell now?" Dr. Trek asks.

"Don't you wish to see your creation's first activation?" Vile retorts, one can just imagine a smirk forming behind the dark shadow of that helmet.

"Not under these circumstances," Dr. Trek shallows as if he is in need of a drink of water.

"Very well," Vile motions to another maverick. "Return the doctor to his cell."

Dr. Trek takes one last look at his life's work in the hands of mavericks before he is escorted out of the room.

Mobius, 2011

"At last!" Dr. Eggman raises his hands in triumph. "This could be my greatest creation!" He marveled at the results of his labor, or more precisely the labor of his E-series robots and EggRobos. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Before him is a tall cylindrical machine that reaches all the way up to the ceiling of the laboratory. An array of lights, spread all across in 90-degree patterns, glow in a fade-in/fadeout manner. Around the center of the cylinder, the blades of a turbine can be seen in a circle around the machine. Eggman leans back in the chair of his Egg Mobile. He glances down at a tiny monitor. The power level is at 5%, appropriate for a machine on standby mode.

Eggman pilots his signature flying machine towards a small glass dome connected to the cylinder. The quiet hum it gives off creates a tiny and short lived, echo in the large room. He smiles gleefully as he takes out the cyan colored Chaos Emerald.

"Doctor Eggman," one of the E-series robots chimes in. "The blueprints that you received did not mention the use of a Chaos Emerald."

"Silence," Eggman dismissed the robot's warning. "I know what I am doing. I am a genus after all." He opens the glass dome and places the Chaos Emerald inside. The glow of the gem of power shines and reflects in the sunglasses. Eggman smiles again. "With this machine I will have the power of all seven Chaos Emeralds, and that is without possessing any. Now imagine how much power I will have if I actually use a Chaos Emerald to power it even further." The rounded scientist lets out a boisterous laugh.

"Assuming the machine works as intended," the same E-series robot states in a dull tone that mimics a sarcastic tone.

A thump echoes through the room as Dr. Eggman slams his fist down, "do NOT speak to your creator is such a manner! Now start the sequence! That's an order!"

The E-series robot follows its order and presses a button. The cylinder makes a humming noise that quickly begins to sound more like a jet or helicopter starting up as the turbine turns.

Earth, 21XX

"Active it," Vile orders calmly. He crosses his arms and he would have held his breathe if he actually had the need to breath. The sound from the cylinder starts as a quiet hum before becoming louder like an aircraft. The turbine spins as Vile watches the power gauge go from 5% to 10%, then 15%, then 20%…

"It's awfully loud," another maverick state but his words can only barely be heard by his own artificial ears.

30%, 40%, 50% Vile nods in approval of the steadily climbing power levels. He then notices, as well does the other mavericks in the room, the cylinder begins to give off a light blue glow.

Mobius, 2011

"Why is so loud?" Eggman yells as he puts on a pair of sound dampening headphones. While no longer deafening, the headphones do not keep the noise of the cylinder from being heard loud and clear. Eggman cannot help but note the red glow the machine is giving off. '_I hope that's normal_,' he thinks to himself.

The red clad genius looks at the monitor showing the power level of the cylinder… 80%, 90%, 100%, 110%… Eggman gasps in shock. That is definitely not normal. 120%, 130%, 140%, 150%! The noise of the cylinder begins to hurt his ears again through the protection of the headphones.

Earth, 21XX

Vile cannot believe his own optics. The power level of the cylinder is now beyond 200% and still rising at an alarming rate. He smashes a button that activates an alarm that is almost drowned out by the screech of the machine. He motions to the mavericks that heard the alarm to get out, fast. After letting many of his fellow mavericks leave before him, he takes off running. Not before taking a quick glace at the massive cylinder that is now glowing an intensely bright blue and mutter an inaudible swear.

Vile is one of the last mavericks to exit the building that sits in the middle of the large mothballed industrial complex they call home. He does not have anytime to ask questions or to demand Dr. Trek be brought before him. He just has time to see a bright dome of light phase through the walls of the building and shallow everything in its path. The entire complex, except for a few tiny buildings on the outskirts, is covered by this dome. A pillar of light the same color shoots outward for a brief moment, and then all of this blue light fades away.

There are only two witnesses to this event. The first is a satellite in orbit. It sends a report to Maverick Hunter Headquarters that describes it in the best possible way it can, as an explosion.

The other witness is a reploid in blue armor, a Maverick Hunter by the name of X. He watches a blue pillar of light from the horizon shine and pulsates before fading out of existence. Dust rises off the ground as X hits the accelerator of his hover bike, called an Aldion Ride Chaser, and heads in the direction the light was coming from.

Mobius, 2011

E-series robots rapidly press buttons in as much of a panic as their robotic minds can allow them. The machine is so loud now that is actually cracking the screens of the monitors in the room and causing the less advanced EggRobos' circuits to fry. The angry red glow makes everyone in the room look as if they are inside of an oven set to its maximum temperature. The E-series robot that warned Eggman of the dangers of not following the blueprints earlier turns ready to give a quick report of the situation. However, the egg shaped doctor is no there. The E-series can only look at its fellow robot before the cylinder disperses it dome of light. However, this glow does phase through the walls, it destroys them and anything else it touches.

Dr. Eggman has already converted his Egg Mobile to an Egg Hornet and taken off. Flying away form the underground base, he was in Eggman flails his arms in frustration. "GAAAHHH! I can't believe this! If I ever find who sent me those bluepri… AHHHHH!"

Eggman has to fight to control his Egg Hornet as a shockwave blasts past. The thunderous pop rings in his ear. He looks back to see the location of his underground base looking like a dirty volcanic eruption. The thick cloud of dust and dirt is pushed away by a red dome of light. A red pillar of light bursts out before it all fades away.

"My base… completely destroyed," Eggman laments, but then sighs. "At least it wasn't because of that accursed Sonic, and at least I still have…" Eggman's sunglasses drop down his nose and his eyes grow big. "Where is it?" Eggman frantically searches his person and the cockpit. "GAH! I forgot the Chaos Emerald!"

On Angel Island, Knuckles the Echidna grimaces as he watches the Master Emerald glow and shake. Throughout his arms and legs a dull pain is felt, similar to the growing pains a child endures from time to time. However, this pain signifies not growth, but a surplus of negative chaos energy entering this world. The guardian of the Master Emerald calmly looks at his charge, glowing and shaking, "I know… I feel it too."

Earth, 21XX

"Sir," an operator at Maverick Hunter HQ looks up at a reploid in black and gold armor. "We've just received a report from Satellite Tango 211."

"Relay the report," the reploid, by the name of General Signas, politely orders.

"Yes sir. Have detected large explosion in sector 14. Classification: Unknown."

"Unknown?" Commander Signas rubs his chin. The fact that the satellite classified the explosion as unknown is puzzling. Usually explosions are classified as either fragmentation, incinerating, chemical, nuclear, or natural. This is the first time a satellite has not been able to properly identify anything. "Who is the closest we have to that explosion?"

"Commander X, sir," the same operator responds. "He appears to be headed there already."

Signas sighs. "Patch us through to him."

"Yes sir," the operator types in some brief information and taps the enter key. "This is Maverick Hunter HQ to Commander X, do you copy?"

"This is Commander X, I copy," the famed Maverick Hunter responses.

"This is General Signas," the leader of the Maverick Hunters takes over. "I can see you don't need to be briefed on the explosion in sector 14."

"I don't think it was an explosion."

"How can you be sure?"

"Well," X has to delay his response for a split second due to having to maneuver his Ride Chaser around some minor obstacles, "I'm was less then fifteen miles from where it occurred, but I didn't feel or hear any shockwave."

"That's odd," Signas again rubs his chin. "Well, proceed to the area and report back whatever you find. We'll be sending you some backup just in case."

"Roger, Commander X over and out," X steers his Chaser left to cut through part of the forest of reploid trees. In his world, even much the plant life is artificial.

"Contact Commander Zero," Signas stands up from his seat, "have him report back here and prepare for teleportation to X's location." He then notices a female reploid enter the control room… a reploid that is supposed to have the day off. "Alia, why are here on your day off?"

"Sir," Alia salutes at attention, "I came here as soon as I heard about the situation."

"Been tapping into the satellite feeds again have we?" Signas sighs, but also chuckles a bit. "Very well, take your position."

"Yes sir," Alia takes the first unoccupied seat she can find. Signas shakes his head. He knows the real reason she is here, Commander X. She will never admit it though, obviously.

Meanwhile, in a part of Abel City, Zero is facing off against a "maverick" he is not used to fighting.

"Put down the weapon," he warns the mechaniloid. His opponent responds by throwing his "weapon" at Zero, half a dozen hotdogs.

"Hey!" Zero dodges the meaty projectiles and rushes the malfunctioning vendor mechaniloid. He lunges for the bulky, but not overly large, machine and manages to grab on to it. While it may not be gigantic, it is still too big to tackle to the ground. It reacts by flailing its appendages wildly and spinning around. "Damn it, stop already!" holding on to the box shaped mechaniloid is hard enough without it dancing about like it is.

Zero manages to open a panel on the back and unplug a wire inside. The vendor mechaniloid instantly shuts down. The red maverick hunter does a quick sigh of relief, "there we go. Now let's see what caused you to go maverick."

Zero inspects the inner workings of the mechaniloid, "that explains it."

"Is it the Sigma Virus?" the mechaniloid's owner, who came out from behind a mailbox, asks.

Zero makes an annoyed sigh, "yes it was. We just uncovered Sigma's latest evil plan to beat all humans to death with greasy junk food."

Obvious sarcasm is obvious. The owner frowns and glares at Zero, "you don't have to give me attitude!"

Zero shakes his head and thinks, '_you don't have to ask stupid questions._' "Its circuitry was overheating and that was causing some wires to melt."

"Oh that worthless piece of junk!" the owner fumes.

"Hey! It's your responsibility to maintain your mechaniloid," Zero stands up and literally looks down on the man, who gulps. "In this heat without a working cooling system or even a lousy umbrella attachment to give it shade, what the hell do you expect?"

"Hey that stuff costs money!"

"So does the penalty for not maintaining a mechaniloid properly."

"WHAT!" the man's voice becomes more like a mouse's squeak as he continues on a ranting fit.

"Look…!" Zero sighs as his communicator begins to beep. Ignoring the man, he answers the call, "this is Commander Zero."

"Zero," Alia is on the line, "we need you to return to HQ and prepare for immediate teleportation to sector 14."

"What's going on?" Zero asks while still filtering out the man's bickering.

"An explosion of unknown classification has occurred there. We need you inspect the area. Commander X is already there."

"Roger that, I'm on my way. Zero over and out." '_Anything to get away from here._' "Hey!" Zero whistles and motions for a maverick hunter recruit that responded to the vendor mechaniloid call over to him.

"Yes sir?" the recruit asks in a rather professional manner.

"I've been called back to HQ. You think you can handle things here?"

"Of course."

"Good," Zero runs over to his Aldion Ride Chaser. "Oh, and make sure to sight that guy for failure to maintain a mechaniloid."

"Yes sir!" the recruit smiles as the sound of the mechaniloid's owner screaming enters his ears. Zero puts the hammer down and his Chaser rockets towards the nearest highway on-ramp.

Mobius, 2011

Dr. Eggman fidgets worriedly as he flies towards what remains of his underground base. "I hope the Emerald wasn't vaporized. Wait… it's a Chaos Emerald it should of survived the blast."

Eggman circles the crater coughing a bit from the remaining dust in the air. He is just hoping he can find it before the media, G.U.N., or that blue hedgehog shows up. He then spots something in the cloud of dust… something red and glowing.

Floating in the center of the crater is they cylinder. A red shield seems to have formed around it, and despite not being plugged into anything, it appears to still be operational. "That's impossible. That thing was at ground zero of the blast. It should be dust."

Eggman then turns on his Chaos Emerald tracking device built into his Egg Mobile pod. The distinct sound of two, not one, but two bleeps are heard. "What?" His device is telling him that there are two Chaos Emeralds in the crater. Though relieved to know the cyan Emerald he had is intact, Eggman can't help but he perplexed. "But I only had one. How can this be detecting two unless… no that can't be."

Earth, 21XX

X stands at the edge of a crater with only his Rider Chaser and an odd silence to accompany him. He notices how the surrounding trees and buildings are standing completely undamaged instead of being in pieces that are spread all over the place. He kneels down and feels the edge of the asphalt where it was cut off. It is smooth and not jagged. He grabs some dirt from the side of the crater, it doesn't have any blast residue in it. "This definitely was not an explosion."

"Maverick Hunter HQ to X, come in X," the sound of Alia's voice is instantly recognized by the blue armored reploid.

"Alia I though you had the day off," X has started a habit of talking with Alia in a more casual manner.

"Oh you know me, can't stay away from work," and vice versa.

X laughs a little at the comment.

"What did you find?" Alia asks now that the casual greetings are done.

"Well, I can confirm that this wasn't an explosion. All the structures and trees around the crater are intact."

"That pretty much proves your theory. If it were an explosion then all of that would be leveled. But then what the hell was it?"

"My guess, a teleportation."

"Wait, what? Are you serious? That would take a huge amount of power! A thousand times more than what is required to power all of Abel City!"

"I know it sounds crazy but…" X spots something now that his attention is on to more of the crater, "what is that?"

"You spot something?" Alia feels a chill run through her like a bad omen.

"Yeah, give me a moment," X retrieves a pair on binoculars from his hover bike. Looking through them, he finds what he saw earlier. In the center of the crater, floating, is the cylinder. A blue shield has form around it and it is operational even though it is not hooked up to any power source. "There is a strange machine in the center of the crater."

"A machine? You mean a mechaniloid?" Alia feels that same chill run through her reploid limbs.

"No, some kind of computer I think. Hard to tell from this distance," X takes a white pack from his Ride Chaser and attaches it to his back. It is a first aid kit with supplies to help hurt humans and reploids. He has gotten into the habit of always taking on with him. "I'm getting a closer look."

"Wait X! Wait for Zero! He's being sent in to back you up."

"I'm just going to take a look. Just have Zero teleport to my location. I'll be careful, I promise. X over and out."

"No X," Alia lets out a perturbed huff. "Damn that reploid."

X jumps down into the crater and starts a steady jog towards the cylinder. Still carrying the binoculars, he looks through them again. He notices a series of large thick, and smoothly cut, cables dangling from the bottom. "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

X soon finds himself standing in front of the cylinder. The glow of the blue shield gives him an elongated shadow, and forces him to squint his eyes. He then hears a sound that makes his metal gut sink. The cylinder starts to hum, which goes from quiet to progressively louder. The turbine in the middle of the cylinder also starts to spin, in unison with the increasing volume of the hum.

Mobius, 2011

A robotic arm from the Egg Hornet digs into a pile of debris, and grabs hold on something. Whatever it got a hold of make a "tink" sound when it was gripped by the arm's claw.

"Ah ha! Got it!" Eggman cheers. The claw comes out of the debris pile holding a mildly scorched, but otherwise intact, cyan Chaos Emerald. Eggman grabs it with his own hands the moment it comes into reach. Eggman gently brushes the soot and dirt off the Emerald. He then smiles at it, grateful that the gem is still in existence. His glee is interrupted when he hears the cylinder start up again.

Eggman makes an "eep" sound, stores the Chaos Emerald, and pushes the Egg Hornet's throttle as far forward as he can. The boosters of his aircraft light up and belch out flames that propel it forward. The doctor grits his teeth as he hears the cylinder become louder and louder again. He exits the perimeter of the crater but does not stop. The further away from that thing he is, the better. He hears what sounds like a volcano erupting violently and the Egg Hornet is jostled about again, though not nearly as bad as before, by another shockwave.

Earth, 21XX

X attempts to run away from the cylinder, but the sound it making is so intense it is literally crippling to him. He tries to muster up the strength and will to get up and move. "Alia!" he tries to contact HQ, but it is no use.

He sees the ground around him light up, and his shadow grow even longer and more faded. The Maverick Hunter looks back, and is blinded by a bright blue light that engulfs him.

"X? X? X!" Alia yells into her headset.

"What happened?" Signas asks in a loud, but still calm, tone.

"W… we… just… lost contact with Commander X…" Alia struggles to say those words.

"Satellite Tango 211 reports another…" the operator next to Alia hesitates to continue for a moment, "…'explosion' of unknown classification in sector 14, but much smaller. Same location as the last time."

"Where's Zero?" Signas asks.

"He just teleported out to X's location, sir," an operator to his left answers.

"Damn it," Signas clinches his fists.

Alia remains motionless as she stares at the "no signal" status for X's tracker on her screen.

(To be continued…)


	2. The Maverick

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or Mega Man X. Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man X, and all related characters are copyright: Sega and Capcom. So in a way this fanfic belongs to them, even though I am writing it. This story is available free for reading by the public. Dr. Trek and "The Maverick" are copyright me though; I did essentially make them up. All rights reserved.

Notice: This fanfic does contain violence, (nothing ultra gory though), and minor harsh language.

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**Merger**

Chapter Two: The Maverick

Earth, 21XX

A red teleportation beam descends into a crater close to its center. This beam lands and reveals itself to be the Commander of the 0 Unit of Maverick Hunters named Zero. Just a second after landing he receives a call on his communicator from Maverick Hunter HQ. He doesn't answer right away because he is focusing on the large cylinder glowing blue in front of him.

"Zero! Respond now!" a frantic voice shouts through the communicator.

"Yes, yes! I'm here Alia," Zero finally answers. "I've arrived at sector 14, but I don't…"

"Get out of there now!" Alia's voice is loud and demanding.

"What, why? I haven't even found X yet."

"No time! Just move!"

Zero is confused by Alia's urgent pleas. He wonders why she wants him to return right after he just got there, but then he gets his answer. The peace of the area is once again shattered by the cylinder starting up.

"The hell!" Zero yells as he tries to guard his audio sensors from the decibel assault. He sees a blue light move on him. "Oh crap…"

Mobius, 2011

The rustling of large leaves in the wind is the first thing X notices after regaining consciousness. Opening his eyes he is greeted by a clear blue sky, and a late afternoon sun, hiding behind a grouping leaves and foliage swaying back and forth gently. He takes a moment to look around before attempting to get up. All around him are the type of plant life native to jungles and tropical areas. He then makes his attempt to get up, which proves to be effortless. After getting up he accesses the situation, '_well, I'm not dead. It looks like I did get teleported, but to where?_'

"X to HQ come in," the reploid turns on his long range communicator on his arm, but doesn't get any answer. "Alia, do you read?" No response, in fact "no signal" is all the communicator can tell him.

"Hmmm?" X tries then to make contact with a satellite. Again the communicator doesn't find any modern signals. It can only come back with "no signal" again. "Okay… this is odd."

Odd indeed as there is always a satellite to make contact with no matter where you are, or at least there's supposed to be. He adjusts the settings of his communicator to search for any kind of signal. This time it comes back with "signal found" much to X's relief. "Finally, let's see now."

X brings up a list of the signals that were found and his eyes widen. The list includes AM, FM, WiFi, and other outdated wireless connectivity. He then has the communicator scan to see what kind of internet wireless network is currently running. It states that a 4G network is running, instead of the usual 40G network. "What the? Did I get sent to the past!"

X rubs his helmet in contemplation of his current position. His long range communicator won't work because it requires at least a 35G network, but his short range communicator in his helmet can work with any signal. '_I could find a signal, radio or wireless internet, with my short range communicator then link my built-in compass to it in order to lock onto the signal. After that I can follow the signal, which should lead me to a city where I can…_' his train of thought is stopped after he hears the sound of a speed boat racing around in the distance. He walks towards the direction the sound is coming from, moving plant and tree limbs out of his way. Eventually his reploid feet land on hot sand, but the heat doesn't even faze him. What does faze him on the other hand is the sight of a large yacht slowly cruising along the waves and speed boats racing by. He looks over to his left and scans the beach he has just discovered, and there clear as day, is an extravagant resort hotel that looks to be no more than a half mile away.

"Or I can just head towards that hotel right over there," X puts his hand over his face. He steps fully onto the beach; while this part of it isn't filled with people he can see that there are plenty of them by the hotel. Now that finding civilization has relaxed him X notes something about the plant life. It's natural, all of it. Not a single tree, bush, flower, or plant is artificial.

"Whoa…" X is actually mesmerized by the sight of real plants. The last time he saw any natural plants were some kind of poor looking specimens in a small greenhouse preserve. He can't help but feel the leaves; they feel as lush and lively as they look. After finishing admiring the local flora he turns around and is completely startled as a blue streak jets right past him. "Holy! What was that!"

The blue streak was someone most famous on this planet. The red shoe wearing, blue furred, spiky haired and always smiling hedgehog that goes by the name of Sonic the Hedgehog. He took notice of the armored reploid he raced past, but of course he just thought he was a human wearing some unorthodox outfit.

"What was with the getup that guy was wearing?" the blue blur asked to no one in particular. He would have asked him about it, but he didn't want to be late for chilidog night with his best friend, Tails, at his favorite diner. So he shrugs it off, and runs in the hotel's back doors and straight out the front doors. The front desk clerk doesn't even flinch, he's use to it.

"Must be chilidog night," he mutters as he continues reading the newspaper.

Sonic is a blue line moving through traffic at blistering speed. Every move he makes is fast and precise. Every car, person, and obstacle he comes across is avoided without the slightest bit of effort required. His shoes screech like under inflated tires making a sharp turn as he comes to stop in front of his favorite diner.

"Yo Tails!" Sonic calls out not being able to see his friend.

"Up here Sonic!" Tails waves to the blue hedgehog from the roof of the diner.

"What are you doing up there?" Sonic watches as Tails uses his twin tails that earned him that nickname to fly down off the roof.

"I was just enjoying the view," Tails smiles and swings his arms back and forth. "Hope you're hungry."

"You kidding! I'm starving!" Sonic then realizes what Tails just said, "Wait… what are you up to?"

"Whatever could you mean?" Tails plays innocent.

"Uh huh," Sonic walks to the glass door of the diner while keeping his eye on the two tailed fox. The moment he opens the door, Sonic is tackled to the ground by a flash of pink and red.

"Sonic!" Amy Rose squeezes her crush with what seems to be a well, crushing force, at least to him.

"Tails… how could you?" Sonic struggles to get out of the vice grip Amy has him in.

"You try arguing with her," Tails takes a picture with his camera phone of his own design, "but now that I got this. It was worth it."

"Oh you're gonna get it," Sonic points his finger at Tails as menacing as he can, which isn't much at all due to his current position. Amy finally lets him go of him, and he breathes out like he has been holding his breath for thirty minutes.

"Hey Sonic, guess what?" Amy looks at Sonic with a girlish smile. "I've made some special chilidogs just for you."

"You did?" both Sonic and Tails ask in unison. The kitsune wasn't aware Amy had planned on cooking anything for his friend.

"Yeah," Amy grabs Sonic's wrist, "come on!" She leads, or drags depending on your point of view, him into the diner. Tails quietly snickers to himself as he follows the two in.

Unknown to them though they are being watched. Using advanced suction devices at the base of his feet to stand on the side of a building towering over the diner is a short, mushroom shaped, figure. This isn't anyone Sonic or his friends know. No one native to this planet knows who or what he is. He isn't a human. He isn't an animal. He may look like a mushroom, but he isn't from some land of mushrooms. What is he then? He is the same as the other visitors that no one is aware have arrived. He is a maverick, known as Split Mushroom. Fortunately, his intentions are not hostile. Instead he is simply scouting and observing. He watches as the three enter the diner and using his optics designed to track anything biological continues to observe them through the roof and walls.

Split Mushroom is intrigued by Sonic, Tails, and Amy, "what interesting creatures these are." His sensors can tell that they are in fact fully biological life forms, and not reploids. He looks down at the streets bellow and observes all the humans. "They are so different… so unique compared to the rest of the human fodder."

Though he wishes he could stay and observe Sonic and friends some more, Split Mushroom knows he needs to continue his mission. Thus he leaves; walking on the side of the building as if he is just someone causally heading to work. He jumps from building to building as he heads towards the west side of the city in order to finish scouting the area. Of course, he remotely relays the images he sees and the information he gathers to his allies using the WiFi signals found in abundance in this city.

"What the f…?" Zero gets up like he was startled awake by an air horn or blaring alarm. He finds himself no longer inside of a crater with some strange glowing machine, but on the rooftop of a shopping mall. The sky is a mixture of dark and light with a few stars barely visible to those with the patience to find them. Next to him is a long glass archway where he can see people moving about happily from store to store inside.

"Where the hell am I?" Zero stands up and attempts to make contact with Maverick Hunter HQ to only encounter the same problem that X did. He also does what X did after being told "no signal" repeatedly by his communicator and discovers that cyberspace is running on, what is to him, an ancient 4G network.

Zero kicks in frustration, "Damn it all! I don't believe this! First I port to a crater with some freaky machine in it, then 'boom' I'm on some mall roof back in the Stone Age!" Zero takes in a deep breath to calm himself. He looks down through the glass archway again, '_might as well get down to street level. Perhaps I can find someone to give me some answers._'

Using the superior agility and endurance his robotic body gives him, Zero jumps right off the roof and lands near the mall's side entrance. People close to his landing point are startled by this stunt. Boyfriends guard their girlfriends and parents shield their children. Zero sees this as an odd reaction. He has done that move many times in Abel City and no has ever reacted like that. It's almost as if these people have never seen a reploid before.

"Um… sorry, didn't mean to scare all of you," Zero attempts to assure everyone he means no harm. The people continue with their own business, though a few less than flattering comments about his stunt, and his armor. The red reploid is about to respond to a particularly nasty comment he heard pertaining to his hair and a certain orientation, but can't get a word out before hearing glass breaking.

The words "stop thief" are heard from inside the mall. Although he is a Maverick Hunter, whose main purpose is to battle mavericks, Zero still has an obligation to "serve and protect." So he runs into the mall. The mall's entrance doesn't have any doors or windows in order to allow large numbers of people to enter and exit efficiently. Zero sees a stool lying amongst some tiny bits of glass just outside a jewelry store. As well as, what one can assume is the store's owner having a confrontation with what appears to be some kind of white bat in a pink and black outfit. The bat is taunting the man while holding an impressive looking violent gem.

"Damn thief!" the store owner yells. "Who do you think you are? Taking one of my jewels and then breaking my window!"

"First off," the bat replies, "I didn't break the window. You did." The store owner only gets angrier. "Second, this isn't just some jewel. It's more valuable than all of the fakes you have in there."

"Fakes! How dare you!" the owner points at the bat trying, in vain, to intimidating. "Give that back or I'm calling the police!"

"The police?" the bat puts her arm across her forehead in a deliberately overly dramatic fashion. "Whatever shall I do?"

"Hey!" having heard enough Zero steps in. "I suggest you give that thing back!"

"Oh my, a good samaritan…" bat looks over the Zero, mainly his red armor, "…what are you wearing?"

"Wha… j… just give back the rock," Zero growls because this is about the tenth comment about his armor he's heard in the short time since he landed after jumping off the roof. He's also come to the (wrong) conclusion that this bat creature has to be some kind of reploid. "I mean it, maverick!"

"My name's not 'Maverick,' it's Rouge."

"Whatever, are you going to cooperate or am I going to have to make you?"

"You'll have to catch me first, pretty boy," Rouge taunts with a wink before taking flight and gliding away.

Without hesitation Zero gives chase on foot. He doesn't have much trouble keeping Rouge in sight. Of course, actually getting close enough to catch her is not so easy. He could resort to his Z-Buster, but this "maverick" hasn't actually hurt, or even threatened to hurt, anyone so it would be completely uncalled for. He smirks with an idea. He leaps up onto one of the decorative trees that line the center of the mall's main lane and uses it as a jump off point to get to the second floor. He does this while making sure he maintains his forward momentum so not to lose his quarry. Now that he is on the second floor he has less people and obstacles in his path to slow him down.

Looking down at Rouge who seems to slowing down, perhaps it's because she doesn't see Zero chasing him, the maverick hunter whispers, "gotcha." With his foot on the railing he launches himself down towards the fleeing bat. However, Rouge still knew he was following her. With a brisk flap of her wings she gains just enough altitude that Zero misses her and instead lands face first into the branches of a tree.

Various forms of "ow" and assorted swear words can be heard as Zero tumbles down the tree before stopping after his foot hangs up in a cluster of sturdy branches. He now finds himself hanging upside down from this tree watching Rouge fly away.

"Better luck next time, pretty boy," Rouge waves towards Zero as she flies off turning a corner and out of sight.

"Well this is embarrassing," Zero mutters. A couple sitting on the bench at the base of the tree stare at him. "What? You've never seen a reploid hanging upside down from a tree before?"

The couple shakes their head and then the girl asks, "What's a reploid?"

"What do you mean 'what's a rep…'" the branches giving way and drop Zero to the floor. "Ah! Son of a…!"

Rouge eyes the violet gem she obtained from the jewelry store. Obviously it's no ordinary gem; it is the violet Chaos Emerald. "No way was I going to give that slob money for you," she says as she turns the Emerald around in her hand to admire it.

Hovering over the mall watching Rouge through the glass archway someone points a large metal claw at her. It opens with hard "clack" and the inside glows with a threatening green light. A high-pitched screeching sound comes from the claw when a ball of energy fires from it. It goes through the glass and hits a vendor stall in Rouge's path. The stall is blown apart and the force of the blast knocks the white bat to the ground. She is able to keep her grip on the Chaos Emerald.

Zero pulls a stick out of his hair before hearing a loud explosion and feeling the mall shake. The halls are immediately filled with the screams of panicking people. His Z-Buster appears around his right arm. Crap just hit the fan and he intends to be prepared.

"Better get out of here," Zero tells the couple who don't argue and take off running. Zero then heads towards where the explosion occurred. An experienced maverick hunter knows to always go to where people are running from.

"Ugh," Rouge holds her head and rubs a mild bump she just received. She hears the sound of boosters enter the mall. She looks up to see a humanoid figure in dingy grey colored armor. The design of the armor is a little similar to that red clad "pretty boy" that had chased her, mainly with the shoulder pads and left arm. Everything else is quite different from the red guy though. Rouge looks him over quickly. He looks to be a robot. '_Is this one of Eggman's new robots?_'

The unknown attacker makes the floor, walls, and windows shake when he lands nearby. His feet, which have a rectangular and angled shape, actually crack and crush the tiled floor. His identity is concealed by a bulky looking helmet with a black visor that is pushed in a bit. His back sports twin boosters. While his left arm is normal enough for a robot, his right arm is a different story. The right arm is a huge robotic claw with a needle nose-like tip that is rounded at the end. Still looks like he could jab that thing right through a torso with enough force. It's attached to his body via a snake-like arm.

The attacker points his claw at Rouge. It opens and the "clack" sound it makes echoes in her ears. He speaks in a deep, and blatantly disguised, voice, "The Emerald, now."

Rouge smirks, "Sorry honey, but this Emerald is mine."

The response she gets is shot from the claw that she has to avoid by diving for the floor. The shot goes through the window of a fashion store and proceeds to demolish it in a fireball. Manikins fly and tumble out of the store in pieces and flames, while designer dresses fluttering the air as they are devoured by fire. Rouge looks at the rubble that used to be the store. She now knows this guy isn't messing around or playing any games. She still keeps her composure.

"Okay," Rouge rushes the attacker, "you want to get dirty then let's get dirty!" The attacker points his claw at her again, but the bat quickly changes her direction. She never intended to do a frontal assault. He fails to follow her movements and receives as hard kick to the back, which is followed by a second swift kick to the back of the head. The strikes cause him to stumble forward a couple of steps. He retaliates by swinging his claw around. Rouge avoids with a quick duck, but the claw swing is followed by a punch from the left arm that connects with her gut. The brief moment she is stunned by the hit is all the opportunity the attacker needs. He grabs her with his claw and attempts to pry the Emerald from her grasp.

"Hand over the Emerald," the attacker demands. Rouge puts her feet against his chest and tries to push herself out of the claw's hold. He won't let her do that. Her gut feels queasy as she is swung around by the attacker. He then slams her into the floor multiple times, each time leaving a visible cracked dent in the tiles. This punishment forces her to drop the Chaos Emerald. It is kind of hard to hold on to anything when your head hurts that much.

"Should have saved yourself the pain," the attacker throws Rouge into a music store. She collides with a CD rack display. He reaches down to pick up the Chaos Emerald, but is struck by a ball of plasma that knocks him down.

A glow inside of Zero's Z-Buster slowly fades, "I'd advise you stay down, maverick."

The attacker gets up and the language of his movements tells that he is shaken by Zero's appearance. "What, a maverick hunter, here!"

Rouge hisses as she gets up. The pain from the bruises she has is bad enough, but it would be nice if everything would hurry up and stop spinning.

"Hey," Zero directs his words at Rouge, "you okay?"

Hearing those words she looks up and sees the strange man in red armor that was chasing her is now standing in her defense. "Well, pretty boy comes to the rescue."

Zero's attention goes back to the unknown attacker the moment he sees movement in the corner of his eye, "Don't even think about it!"

"You're not supposed to be here," the attacker's left hand clinches.

Zero steadies his Z-Buster with his left hand, "Who are you?"

The attacker cautiously rises, "You can call me 'The Maverick'."

"How original," Zero lets out a brief chuckle at the generic name. "Well, Maverick, you're under arrest."

"And you're out of your jurisdiction, maverick hunter," The Maverick pulls out a pistol-like weapon with his left hand and fires a small beam from it.

Zero quickly side steps to avoid the beam and returns fire with two shots from his buster. The Maverick brings his claw forward to guard himself. A square screen of energy appears and absorbs the shots.

"A type-AG shield, impressive," Zero runs around as the attacker fires off a few shots from the pistol. The red reploid fires four shots in a line as he runs. Three are absorbed by The Maverick's shield, but the fourth shot destroys his pistol weapon.

"Augh!" The Maverick sees Zero jump towards him with his Z-Buster pointed at him. The buster's barrel glows with a pending charged shot. "Damn it," he brings his claw forward and an energy shield appears. The tip of Zero's Z-Buster makes contact with his shield. "No!"

"Oh sh…" Zero's Z-Buster releases the charge shot point blank against the type-AG shield. The subsequent explosion sends both flying backwards. Zero tumbles a few times before sliding to a stop on his back. The Maverick flies back and crashes into the counter of a coffee shop. Even Rouge is knocked down by the explosion, but just on her rear.

She notices the Chaos Emerald rolling away, "you're mine." She gets up and races over to retrieve it. These boys can have their fight, she just wants the Emerald.

"Ah, crap!" Zero's right hand feels like it is being burned. So quickly removes his Z-Buster and drops it on the ground. The barrel is smoking slightly and has become melted, and the lens of the buster is severely cracked. "Damn it, it's fried!"

Rouge reaches down to pick up the Chaos Emerald, but sees a large metal claw rushing towards from the corner of her eye. She feels a rush of air on her face as she barely dodges the claw by mere inches. It stabs into the floor buckling tiles in the process. The white bat is struck in the face with a hard, and angry, backhand from The Maverick. She lands on a bench and holds her nose, which is bleeding.

"That's no way to treat a lady!" she complains.

The Maverick ignores her words and picks up the Chaos Emerald, "finally." He hears to distinct sound of a reploid's footsteps rapidly approaching.

Zero leaps up from behind a tree with his hand on of his Z-Sabers. He has a rather peeved look on his face, "you own me a buster, prick!"

The Maverick literally has no time to react. He tries to move but Zero's Z-Saber slices his left arm off at the forearm. The arm, with the Chaos Emerald still in hand, bounces on the ground. The Maverick yells in pain and then gets brutal kick from Zero. He flies back and slides towards the same coffee shop counter he went through earlier. Zero stands in a ready stance with his Z-Saber, in his right hand, over his head pointed in the direction of his foe and his left arm out and forward to counter balance.

"Well," Rouge can't help but admire Zero a little at this point, "pretty boy's has some fairly nice moves."

The Maverick struggles to his feet. His breathing is heavy. Even though his left arm has been cut off it does bleed artificial blood like most reploids would. Instead it bleeds nothing, which Zero notices. Pointing his claw at the maverick hunter he yells, "Damn you! How'd you get here! You are not supposed to be here!"

"Shut the hell up!" Zero gets ready to move in for the kill. He is a little curious when his enemy adjusts his aim, but then that curiosity becomes shock as he realizes his enemy's target has become Rouge. The inside of The Maverick's claw begins to emit a green glow. Zero has two options: he could charge the enemy and hope he takes him down before he gets the shot off, or he could grab the bat and pull her safely out of danger. He chooses the second option. The shot from the claw punches straight through a tree and destroys a luxury SUV on display.

Zero hears his enemy's boosters ignite. He tries to get up and charge him fast enough, but The Maverick takes flight before Zero can even get to his feet. He watches his opponent fly through the glass archway knowing that if his Z-Buster was still functioning he would of shot him of out the sky easily.

As he flies away from the mall, The Maverick looks back at the one who gave him such an unplanned defeat. He contemplates how a maverick hunter came to this world, and only one conclusion can be made, '_So the gate must still be open. This complicates things._'

"You alright…" Zero looks down expecting to see Rouge still lying on the ground where he was guarding her, but instead he sees an empty spot on the floor. "Where did?" He looks about and soon spots the bat trying to remove the violet gem that this whole fight was about from the grip of the severed mechanical hand. "Unbelievable!"

Rouge growls as she tries to yank the Chaos Emerald free by holding down the arm with her foot and pulling on the gem. A drop of blood drips from her nose, which hasn't quite stopped bleeding yet. Her grip on the jewel slips. A red and white foot prevents her from grabbing it again when it steps on the Emerald.

Rouge sighs in disgust as she looks up at the owner of the foot, "do you mind?"

"Yes," Zero replies, "as a matter of fact, I do mind."

"Listen pretty boy," Rouge places her hands on her hips. "I don't know who you think you are, but…"

"Your nose is still bleeding," Zero casually points at the bat's nose and smirks. Watching her having to hold her nose, thus losing much of her sultry composure, is a nice bit of payback for that whole tree incident. "Oh and my name's not 'pretty boy,' it's Zero."

"There is so much I could say about that name," Rouge sniffs as she seems to finally stop the bleeding. The maverick hunter simply makes a sarcastic chuckle.

Zero picks up the robotic arm and pulls on the thumb of the hand. There is a quick metallic pop and the Emerald falls out of it, which he catches. Rouge raises an eyebrow as she watches him be more interested in the arm then the Emerald. Truth is Zero is trying to determine what kind of maverick this, "The Maverick," was. He starts to whisper what sounds like they kind of techno babble she would expect Tails to say to himself, though not quite as wordy.

"Whoever that guy was," Zero states, "he seemed to be more of a mechaniloid then a reploid."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Rouge shakes her head. "Since you seem more interested in robot limbs, why don't you be a sweetheart and had that little Emerald over to me?"

"Not a chance!" Zero pulls the Emerald back thinking Rouge was about to try and snatch it. "This is stolen property. As soon as the local authorities get here I'm turning you in and returning this thing."

"Hey, I work for the authorities," Rouge crosses her arms.

A confused look appears on Zero for a moment, "that is the worst attempt at lying I've ever heard."

"I'm not lying, pretty boy. It's actually illegal for stores to try to sell that particular gem. I was just doing my sworn duty, when that store owner through a fit."

"I'm not falling for it lady, and stop calling me 'pretty boy'!"

"Quit being so stubborn!"

"I'm not the one being stubborn here!"

"FREEZE!" several humans with rifles pointed at Zero put a halt to the argument.

"What the hell?" Zero looks around at the humans. G.U.N. is displayed on their uniforms. The rifles they are holding look be centuries old to him. "Don't point your weapons at me! She's the one…!"

"What part of 'freeze' don't you understand?" a Caucasian man with grey hair, and a high ranking officer's uniform on, walks out from behind two G.U.N. agents.

"Commander," Rouge directs a sly smirk at Zero although she is addressing the grey haired man. "I didn't expect you here in person."

"Considering the 911 center got flooded with calls about a war breaking out in the mall," the Commander exaggerates a bit, though considering all the damage perhaps it isn't such an exaggeration. "I'd figure I'd see what the commotion was about personally."

Zero is stunned that Rouge's claim to be working for the authorities was actually true. So much so that he is speechless. He drops the severed maverick arm he was holding without realizing he still had it in his hand.

"Before we start with introductions," the Commander readjusts his white gloves. "Would you be so kind as to give that Emerald to Agent Rouge?"

Rouge doesn't wait for Zero to give it to her, instead simply plucks it from his hand. "Thank you."

Zero shakes himself out of his stupor, "this makes no sense! Who are you people?"

"I am Commander Abraham Tower of the Guardian Units of Nations," Tower gives Zero a stern look. "May I ask you the same?"

"I'm Commander Zero of the Maverick Hunters' 0 Unit," Zero answers.

Commander Tower is silent for a second before saying, "'Maverick Hunters,' never heard of it."

"Well I've never heard of any 'Guardian Units of Nations' either," Zero crosses his arms and stands defiant against this authority figure he doesn't recognize.

"You're being stubborn, pretty boy," Rouge rather not see Zero shot by the gun officers, since he did save her life.

Zero's face contorts, "pretty disgusting that you would send this agent of yours to steal some gem from innocent civilians."

"Steal?" Commander Tower looks over at Rouge. "You were supposed to buy the gem, not steal it."

"I felt like having a little sport," Rouge shrugs.

Commander Tower sighs, "Agent Rouge…"

"Well this has been fun but…" Zero gets ready to take off but the sounds of more rifles being aimed at him makes him reconsider.

"You're not going anywhere," Commander Tower raises his hand as a signal to his men to ready their trigger fingers. "Zero, was it?"

'_Damn it,_' Zero contemplates his position. He could easily escape these humans, but there would be a good chance some would get hurt in the process. He can just imagine X giving him a harsh lecture how reploids aren't suppose to be hurting humans. With a heavy sigh Zero grabs his Z-Sabers, but keeps their shut off. The G.U.N. soldiers tighten their grips on their weapons. There is a moment of tense silence. Zero drops his weapons on the tiled floor and raises his hands in air. "Okay, I'll cooperate."

Rouge sighs in relief. Commander Tower calmly motions for the soldiers to cuff Zero. He doesn't resist but he is not happy about his situation.

'_This is just great,_' Zero fumes in his own mind. '_X! I hope you're having as much fun as I'm having right now!_'

A beautiful sunset over the water is reflected in X's appreciative eyes. The blue armored maverick hunter is completely unaware of Zero's plight, or that Zero is even in this unfamiliar city. Though he wishes he could stay and finish watching the sunset, X knows he needs to find out where he is exactly. As he continues down the beach his recalls that blue blur that went zooming past him earlier. He plays back the moment in his reploid brain freezing it at the exact point at which the blur was in his line of sight. The image looks, well, blurry. Whatever it was, it was moving incredibly fast. X is able to recognize some features such as a pair of red shoes and spiky blue quills.

"Whoa, righteous gear dude," a late night beachgoer compliments X's armor.

"Uh, thanks," X nods at the young man wearing an open aloha shirt, and then a thought occurs to him. Other than the strange blue blur, humans have been all that he has come across. He hasn't seen any other reploids or even mechaniloids. "Excuse me, sir. Kind I ask you a rather usual question?"

"Go for it, man," the beachgoer nods.

"What city is this?" X rubs the back of his helmet knowing it's an odd question.

"Kind of lost are we?" the beachgoer does a short laugh. "This is Station Square."

'_Station Square? An odd name for a city and defiantly not one I recognize,_" X rubs his chin. "Okay, thank you."

"No problem, dude. And remember when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade," the beachgoer heads over to a bonfire party occurring just ways down the beach.

X smiles for a bit then gets a more serious expression on his face as he sorts out the information he has. '_This pretty much confirms that I was teleported, but did I get sent to the past or another world? The past seems unlikely, so this might be another world. Who knows how far I am from Earth? Alia and Zero must be beside themselves with worry. Did the industrial complex get teleported here too? Wait… maybe there's another machine like the one in the crater, a sender and a receiver._'

X then remembers the AM, FM, and WiFi signals that he detected. Using his short range communicator in his helmet, he searches for a strong signal and finds one almost instantly.

"So this has been one interesting day," a radio DJ states in a satirical tone. "Doctor Eggman's latest endeavor has ended in a total disaster without even Sonic the Hedgehog having to do anything."

Another radio DJ can be heard snickering. X is wondering who "Doctor Eggman" and "Sonic the Hedgehog" characters are. He walks over to a bench and sits down. Even a reploid's feet need a break now and then.

"Apparently," the radio DJ continues, "his underground base was completely demolished by, get this, his own latest invention. For being a quote, 'genius,' he sure does make a lot of stupid mistakes. So now, his base is nothing but a junk filled crater. I mean if he's going to start defeating himself now, then least he could do is not leave such a mess."

"Tell them about the thing in the crater," the other DJ reminds him. X becomes much more interested and listens carefully.

"Yeah, yeah. And now there is this weird machine in the crater. It's some kind of freaky, floating cylinder that giving off this funky red glow."

X's eyes widen at hearing there is indeed another cylindrical machine on this world. Hearing how this cylinder actually destroyed the base it was in is puzzling considering the one on Earth didn't leave the kind of devastation the radio DJ described.

"Well, the G.U.N. has secured the area but they are afraid to get close to it for the obvious reasons. But that's not all that has happened today. Oh no," the DJ can be heard taking a drink of water. "Excuse me. The G.U.N. also responded to a call stating that a robot was terrorizing the downtown mall. No one was seriously hurt, which is a miracle, considering how much damage it did. So far the damage totals are close to the five hundred thousand mark."

"Ouch," the other DJ remarks following it with a hissing sound like he had just scrapped his knee.

"And there has been an arrest made in this case, believe or not."

"Really? What, did they arrest the robot?"

"No, but they did arrest some loon wearing, wait for it, red space armor and really long blonde hair."

"You're jo…" X cuts the radio signal to his helmet and stands up with a jolt.

"Zero!"

(To be continued…)


	3. Of Hedgehogs and Mavericks

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or Mega Man X. Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man X, and all related characters are copyright: Sega and Capcom. So in a way this fanfic belongs to them, even though I am writing it. This story is available free for reading by the public. Dr. Trek and "The Maverick" are copyright me though; I did essentially make them up. All rights reserved.

Notice: This fanfic does contain violence, (nothing ultra gory though), and minor harsh language.

* * *

**Merger**

Chapter Three: Of Hedgehogs and Mavericks

Mobius, 2011

The glow of the shielding around it matches the color of his eyes. A black and red hedgehog stands at the edge of a wreckage-filled crater and stares at the distant cylinder in the center of it. Around him employees of the G.U.N., ranging from soldiers to scientists to engineers, move about trying to set up all kinds of equipment they think will help them figure out what this thing is and what it does.

"Shadow," a robotic voice from behind gets the ebony hedgehog's attention. The metallic stomping noise made by the visitor's feet also help in this matter.

Shadow does a halfway glace at the large red and black robot with an "omega" symbol on his shoulder pad before returning his focus on the cylinder. "Heard Rouge got into a nasty fight on her mission."

"Affirmative," Omega moves to Shadow's side. "Her most sever injury was just a broken nose. The identity of the attacker is still unknown. However, a human was taken into custody."

Shadow does not say anything. He just does a subtle nod and continues to watch the floating cylinder. Though he is glad to hear Rouge's tussle did not leave her too hurt, his thoughts are on this machine. This Eggman base located at the base of a mountain range near the jungle where the Mystic Ruins are found was reported as abandoned by G.U.N. intelligence. However, the word "intelligence" is not what Shadow would use. He may work for them, but their moments of incompetence still baffle him.

"According to Rouge," Omega proceeds with his report, "this human is impressively strong and powerful, perhaps, even as strong as you are."

Shadow has to laugh at that statement. The idea of a mere human being as strong as the Ultimate Life Form is ridiculous at best. "Maybe I should pay this human a visit then."

"Any new information obtained about this abnormal machine?" Omega asks having finished relaying what he had to say.

"No," Shadow sounds annoyed at the G.U.N.'s lack of efficiency, "all we know is that after this thing wiped out Eggman's base, the good doctor was seen running away as always."

"So the true function of this machine remains unknown," Omega's built-in radar detects an aircraft heading towards the area. He points towards the distant object, "Aircraft detected! Unable to identify type!"

"What?" Shadow turns his attention to where Omega is pointing. "Is that a… bird?"

"Negative," Omega answers the question, even though it was supposed to be rhetorical. "Aircraft's body temperature is considerably high. A common fowl would be roasted if exposed to such a high temperature."

Shadow knew that if Omega said something would be "roasted" he meant it literally. Now that this "aircraft" is closer, he can see that it is actually a humanoid, with wings on the back. It would also appear that its head and parts of it torso are on fire. "It may not be a bird, but it's not an aircraft either."

Shadow's words a proven true when the visitor comes closer. Everyone there takes notice. The visitor has the wings, head, talons, tail of a bird but they are metallic. His body is purely humanoid, and indeed his head and parts of his armor are aflame. Shadow, Omega, and the G.U.N. employees are unaware that they are staring at a maverick by the name of Blaze Heatnix.

"Who are you?" Shadow asks in a demanding tone.

Blaze Heatnix does not answer and just hovers over them with his arms crossed. His wings make an unnatural flapping noise makes a number of stomachs sink. The heat from the flames on his armor can be clearing felt indicating that they are indeed real.

"Answer, before I make you," Shadow takes a stance, ready to knock this bird out of the sky if necessary. "Omega, get a hold of the commander and tell him we might have a problem."

Omega is a little hesitant to comply, but only for a split second. He activates his boosters to leave to a better location for contacting the higher ups, and a few other friends as well.

"Cute," is all Blaze Heatnix says as he holds his hand out, which becomes incased in fire. His expression exhibits a sinister atmosphere while remaining emotionless.

"Damn it all to hell!" Shadow knows what is coming. "Chaos… Spear!" the ebony hedgehog lets loose a yellow bolt of energy at the clearly hostile visitor.

Blaze Heatnix directs the palm of his hand forward and unleashes long burst of fire. The attacks pass each other on their way to their targets. The echoes of two explosions fill the mountain air.

Miles away in Station Square the famed blue hedgehog does his morning exercise of running across the rooftops of buildings. It is better this way to avoid having to contend with the rush hour crowds. He did hear about the incident at the mall the previous night, but he is currently unaware of the trouble Shadow encountered mere moments ago. The only thing he is concerned with now is working off those chilidogs Amy had made for him last night. There was nothing wrong with them, but the chili was a little heavy on the beans.

Sonic pats his chest with his fist and lets out a belch, "Ah, that's better. Man, gotta admit Amy makes a pretty mean chilidog."

The morning air is fresh, as fresh as city air gets that is. Sonic stretches out his arms and soaks up some morning sun. He listens to the wind as he does some more leg stretches before continuing his rooftop run. A couple of toe taps with his foot and he volts off the roof down to another roof a little ways below. The moment he lands, he disappears in a flash of dust and becomes a blue blur across the rooftops once more. He is on his way to meet Tails again. Hopefully, the two-tailed fox does not have another "Amy Trap" waiting for him.

In another part of the city, another blue visitor has been having a bit of trouble just finding out where his friend is being held. X wonders through a park trying to use his helmet's short-range communicator to contact Zero, but is having no luck. The reason it is not working could range from interference to Zero simply having his communicator turned off. X rubs his eyes and sighs. He has been wondering around this city all night, and frankly, he is a bit tired. Reploids may not need to "sleep" as much as humans do, but being up for long periods of time can still have an adverse effect. He finds a large tree and flops down at the base of it. Doing this gives the servos and joints in his legs sometime to idle, and it also gives his auto-repair system time to perform some simple maintenance.

X closes his eyes and listens to the sounds of the park. Birds singing their songs, children at the playgrounds laughing, the tapping footsteps of joggers, a hotdog vendor trying to sell his goods, a car honking its horn in the distance, a dog panting while playing fetch, and the roar of a reploid's jet pack… wait. X's eyes open fast and he gets up. He recognizes the sound of that jet pack. A unique sound only belongs to one reploid he has encountered. Memories of chasing this reploid through a Repliforce marine base enter his mind. X looks up and sees a tan and blue humanoid reploid with jet-like wings cruising overhead.

"Split, come in," Jet Stingray flies over the city looking for his comrade who has been in this retro city all night. "Damn it, you little mushroom runt! Where the hell are you?"

While there is a slim possibility that this rebuilt Jet Stingray is not a maverick, X is not about to take any chances. X follows him as closely as he can. He leaps over the wall separating the park from the city streets. He almost knocks over the hotdog stand of the vendor he had heard advertising his wares.

"Hey, watch it buddy," the vendor complains.

"Sorry," X apologizes on the run.

"You see it all in this town," the vendor shakes his head. "Giant robots stomping through the streets, monsters made of water, and now free runners wearing Halloween costumes in June. Come get your grub here! Best dogs in town!"

X weaves and dodges around people as he tries to keep Jet Stingray in his sights. "Excuse me. Sorry. Excuse me. Apologies ma'am." Giving chase on a crowded sidewalk is surprisingly more difficult then giving chase through a marine base on a Ride Chaser. He needs to get to higher ground, but how? He could scale these buildings, but being glass towers would make for a slow assent. Then he sees it, an older building with ledges on the windows. Perfect, now he can use those to climb to the rooftops quickly.

X jumps up and grabs the first window ledge he can reach, which he then uses to toss himself up to another and then another and so on. The building is wide so he has plenty of room to climb and move forward. Being able to leap up a couple of floors is helpful too.

The doorman of the high-class apartment building that X is climbing watches the reploid perform this feat. He is so focus on X that he fails to notice a wealthy middle-aged woman trying to get his attention. After a few attempts to get his attention the woman looks up to see what the doorman is looking at. She spots X and shouts, "Oh lord! What is that man doing!"

"Oh for the love of… Split response already you freaky little turd!" Jet Stingray shouts into his communicator.

"Yes! What is it?" Split Mushroom finally answers.

"About time, I've been flying all over this city looking for you," Jet Stingray banks to the right still maintaining his cruising speed. "You're eight hours overdue."

"So?"

"So, why the hell haven't you returned to the base?"

"I've been observing the life forms of this planet. They are quite fascinating."

"What's so fascinating about them? They're just humans."

"I'm not talking about the humans, glitch for brains! I'm talking about the other life forms."

"You mean those weird animal things you sent pictures of?"

"Yes, now be quiet. I'm watching the pink one and the two-tailed orange one now. Maybe I should pay them a little visit."

"What? No! We're not supposed to be drawing attention to ourselves right now."

"Tell that to Blaze Heatnix."

"Wait, what!"

X huffs as he climbs. This building is taller than he thought, but with a few precise back-and-forth leaps, he manages to get to the roof. He uses his dash ability to traverse to two other rooftops in order to catch up with the one he is chasing. When he is close enough he yells out, "Hey Jet!"

Jet Stingray jerks to a hover with a stunned gasp. He slowly looks behind him like a poor victim in a horror movie about to die. When he sees the maverick hunter X standing on a roof with a stern look on his face and his hands on his waist his eyes bulge. "You! Have! Got! To! Be! Kidding me!"

"What, what is it?" Split Mushroom asks over the communicator.

"It's X! He's here!" Jet Stingray answers in a panicky tone.

"What! Well don't just sit there, nimrod! Do something!"

"I am doing something! I'm getting the hell out of here!" Jet Stingray turns around and gives his boosters all they have.

"You coward!" Split Mushroom growls. Now he will have to stop his observations to assist the panicking maverick. He looks down at Tails and Amy from the side of the building he was standing on. "And I was going to collect samples too. Curses!"

The sound of Jet Stingray's boosters hitting full throttle echoes through the whole city. Everyone hears it, including a certain blue hedgehog. "Whoa, who's flying a jet too low to the ground?" At that moment, the origin of the noise flies past Sonic's location with snapping engine roar. "Hello!"

X curses himself for taunting Jet Stingray, and thus giving him a chance to run away, as he dashes from roof to roof trying to keep up. Despite his attempts to follow, he is still losing track of him. '_Where's a Ride Chaser when you need one?_' X then notices a familiar looking blue streak moving across the roofs to his left. It looks like the same blue streak that zipped past him on the beach, and it is catching up to the maverick.

Sonic has a good view of Jet Stingray. '_Must be Eggy's newest toy. Time to introduce myself._' When he reaches the edge of a building, Sonic jumps high enough to be level with fleeing maverick. "Hey!"

Hearing this Jet Stingray looks around and sees Sonic pop up again striking a lying down pose with his hand on his cheek saying, "What's up?"

Jet Stingray watches this blue hedgehog with eyes wide. If he had a jaw, if would be dropped.

"You new in town?" Sonic says as he pops up again with his arms behind his head and legs casually crossed as if he's relaxing in a deck chair.

'_What the hell am I looking at?_' Jet Stingray cannot believe his optic sensors. He is flying at his top speed and this creature is keeping up with him effortlessly.

"So that guy a friend of yours?" Sonic pops up again and thumbs in the direction of X, whom is just now a dot struggling to keep up.

Jet Stingray notices the hedgehog pointing at X. He then growls, "No!" He points his buster at where Sonic is going to pop up, "And neither are you!"

"Whoa!" Sonic tilts his head back and avoids the shot. "Not a good first impression!" Rolling into a ball the moment he lands, Sonic sends himself racing at the maverick and hits him hard enough to send him spinning.

"Ah, that hurt like hell!" Jet Stingray straightens himself out and opens fire at Sonic from, what he believes, is a safe distance. The blue blur dodges every shot with ease with his famous confident smirk still on his face.

"I can't track him," Jet Stingray has to guess at where to shoot. "How can he be so fast? You can't dodge forever!"

"Well you can't fly forever!" Sonic taunts as he keeps dodging the shots as if there is nothing to it.

"Wanna bet?" Jet Stingray laughs.

Sonic just points at something in Jet Stingray's path, his confident smirk present as always.

That something turns out to be a cluster of I-beams being gently swung around by a construction crane that Jet Stingray spots too late. All he sees is orange before colliding with the obstruction. His flight comes to an immediate halt, though he remains hovering in the air. His head and body shakes like a freshly rung bell.

Sonic jumps off the roof he is on, rebounds off the cluster of I-beams, and rams into Jet Stingray as a spinning blue ball of pain. He remains against he foe, while spinning, punishing his armor. The hedgehog has to hop off to avoid a punch.

"Get off!" Jet Stingray flies backwards as he tries to locate Sonic, whom has seemingly disappeared. "Where'd he go?"

"Over here," Sonic waves at him with running on the side of a building. Before the maverick can get another shot, or even word, off. Sonic rolls into a ball again and flies at him. With a hard baseline thump, Sonic hits his mark and lands on the side of the adjacent building. Then he does the attack again and hits the maverick a second time with a hard baseline thump. This pattern rapidly repeats multiple times. Jet Stingray is helpless as he is being pummeled back-and-forth by this assault.

Soon they reach the end of the buildings at which time Sonic delivers a hard kick and follows Jet Stingray down to a lower rooftop. He briefly rides on the maverick like a snowboard before jumping off. He lands and waits in a runner's starting position. "Ha, is that all you got?"

Jet Stingray has to try four times to before being able to get up. He wobbles as he tries to keep his balance. His body is full of dents and looks like it was in a demolition derby. Many systems in his body are damaged, from his jet pack to his buster to even his auto repair system.

He hears Sonic's taunt. How could this little blue… thing knock him around as if he is just some common punching bag? Many of his systems are damage, but one thing is still working. The maverick opens his chest and fires two stingray drones, his Ground Hunter weapon.

"Whoa," Sonic jumps up. The drones collide and explode under him. He lands and charges at Jet Stingray.

The maverick tries to move but his legs will not budge. Therefore, the only thing he can do his raise his arms up to guard himself with a whimper. Sonic hits him with a double-footed kick and sends him flying into a window of the office building next door. Office workers scrabble as the banged up maverick spins and flips through the cubicles before coming to a rest on his back amongst a collection of broken desks, office chairs, cubical walls, computers, and one leaking water cooler.

Sonic has an "oops, my bad" look on his face after unintentionally knocking Jet Stingray into the office building. "Eh, bad angle." The blue hedgehog hops into the building via the now broken window.

"Shoot, I lost them," X pants to expel the heat from his systems. He hears an explosion followed by glass breaking not long after. He sees a rolling ball of smoke arising from a rooftop not far, but not near either, from where he is. "Perhaps not."

"Anyone hurt in here?" Sonic asks as he works his way over caved-in cubical walls and desks. All the officer workers point at Jet Stingray. "I mean besides the bad guy."

"Oh," one male officer worker says, "no we're fine. You sure made a mess."

"Yeah," Sonic scratches the back of his head, "sorry about that."

Jet Stingray groans as he tries to move, but nearly all attempts to move fail. The only thing he can move at all is his left arm, which is the one without any weapons on it.

"Okay, Eggbot," Sonic points at his defeated opponent. "What's Eggman up to his time?"

"Who the hell is Eggman?" Jet Stingray replies angrily as he pushes the water cooler off him. He attempts to get up but just makes a thud noise as his does not succeed again.

"Wait…? You're not an Eggbot?"

"No, I'm a reploid, a maverick to be more precise!"

"Reploid? Maverick? Never heard of those before."

"But you will," a light but menacing voice from behind him states.

Sonic whips around and sees a mushroom shaped figure standing in the opening he had just (unintentionally) made a moment ago. "Who are…?"

"Split Mushroom!" Jet Stingray answers Sonic's question before he even asks it. "Where the hell have you been?"

Office workers quickly leave as Split Mushroom walks forward. "Jet Stingray, look at yourself. You were beaten to a dented pulp by this blue runt, pathetic."

"Excuse me," Sonic attempts to speak but ends up being ignored.

"He's tougher than he looks," Jet Stingray shakes his fist.

Split Mushroom sighs, "And why haven't you repaired yourself yet?"

"Excuse me," Sonic tries again in speak and gets an annoyed look on his face after being ignored again.

"Because, you fungus freak," Jet Stingray points at his fellow maverick, "my auto repair system was the first thing he broke!"

Split Mushroom makes shrugging gesture, "then why aren't you using a nanobot kit?"

"Excuse me," Sonic tries again to get the maverick's attention and again is ignored. He starts to tap his foot.

"Because I don't have one," Jet Stingray hits the jug of water to the water cooler causing it to split open and spill its contents everywhere. "And don't ask me why!"

Split Mushroom grumbles as he takes out a syringe with four needles that is filled with a grey liquid, "here you weakling," and tosses it to Jet Stingray. "The next time you screw up though, I'm letting you die.

Jet Stingray catches it with his working hand, "oh shut up!"

Sonic has had enough of being ignored and blurts out, "EXCUSE ME!"

"WHAT?" both the mavericks answer at the same time.

Sonic's eyes dart between the two mavericks. He forgets what he was exactly going to say for a second then remembers it, "if you two don't work for Eggman, then who do you work for?"

Split Mushroom's cackle is an odd high-pitched squeak that is eerie to say the least, "Like we'd tell you. It's not like you'll live long enough to care anyway."

"Hey," Sonic thumbs at Jet Stingray while facing Split Mushroom, "I beat that guy easily. I think I can handle a shortstop like you."

The mushroom shaped maverick lets out the eerie cackle again. "My, my, how bold of you. Since you denied me my chance at collecting samples by attacking my idiot comrade, this will be a perfect opportunity for me."

Sonic raises an eyebrow, curious as to what this mushroom robot is talking about.

Split Mushroom points at Sonic, "Once I kill you I'll dissect you to find out what makes you tick, then perhaps I'll do that same to the pink and orange one."

Angry over the treat and worried about his friends Sonic, in a sense, show his fangs and strike a fighting stance. "No way! You stay away from Tails and Amy! I mean it!"

Split Mushroom cackles once again as he strikes an odd fighting pose of crossing his arms in front of him. "Time to try out my upgrade!" He then extends his arms out at his sides. Suddenly several copies of him appear around Sonic in a circle.

"O… okay… I… did not see that coming," Sonic stands a little stunned at the move his enemy just performed.

Another eerie cackle comes from the metal mushroom as he, and his copies, run in a circle and switch places with by jumping for a couple of seconds.

"You know that laugh of yours is really annoying," Sonic looks about trying to figure out which one is the real one. "And if you think a few holograms scare me then you've…" Sonic's ears have to contend with another annoying cackle that seems to come from all the Split Mushrooms.

"Stupid little beast…" starts one Split Mushroom, "…thinks my holograms…" continues another, "…can't hurt him," a third remarks. "Well, he's dead wrong," a fourth one finishes.

Sonic smirks, "Oooo, fancy, fancy. But all I have to do is…" he turns to his right and spins into a ball, "…figure out who's the real one is." He charges for one of the copies.

The copy would smile if he had a mouth for he is indeed the real one, "right guess!" The real Split Mushroom jumps to the side and shoots out a pinkish gas from the top of his fungus shaped head that Sonic goes right through. "Wrong decision!"

Sonic gasps, gags, and coughs as he stumbles and drops to his knees. His limbs act as if they want to fight with his brain instead of doing what it tells them to do. As every time he tries to get to his feet his legs end up giving out and sending him to his knees again.

Split Mushroom again lets out an eerie cackle, which is ten times more painful to listen to now that Sonic has been hit with that pinkish gas.

"W… w… wha… what… was that?" Sonic manages to say.

"My own custom made neurotoxin," Split Mushroom rubs his fingers with his thumb. "Fast to take affect, very slow to kill. I like to torture my victims."

"W… augh…!" Sonic coughs hard enough to make him grab his chest in pain.

"Not so fast now, are you?" Jet Stingray laughs.

"Shut up and inject the nanobot kit already!" yells one of the Split Mushroom copies close to the damage maverick.

"I did you little bastard," Jet Stingray looks at the four needled syringe inserted into an open slot on his leg as it finishes injecting the rest of the grey liquid. He can feel the nanobots begin to repair his systems.

Sonic actually manages to get to his feet, but he is shaking a lot and can hardly move. He grits his teeth in the pain as the neurotoxin slowly tortures his nervous system.

The real Split Mushroom claps his hands, "Impressive. You actually stood up. Most humans would be on the floor crying and begging to die by now."

The mushroom maverick enjoys watching Sonic try to walk for a moment before snapping his fingers, which signals his copies to attack. The closest copy rams the hedgehog with the top of his head, which sends him into a cubical. Another copy grabs and throws him into a support pillar and a third one gives him a hard punch to the face. A fourth copy leaps in and does his own spin move that sends Sonic tumbling through more cubicles. Office supplies, desks, and such hop into the air as the hedgehog flops through them. A cubical wall moves a bit as Sonic struggles to move even something as light as this off him. The pain coursing through his body is intense now. He finally manages to poke his head out of the pile of debris only to be met with a copy grabbing him by the head and tossing him back towards the others.

Sonic lands among a group of a few Split Mushrooms that proceed to stomp him until one of them raises his hand. This one picks Sonic by the throat up and strikes him a couple of times. The blue hedgehog manages to surprise the maverick again by actually mustering enough strength to kick him in the face. Apparently, this Split Mushroom is the real one. The kick frees Sonic from the strangle hold, but the best he can do is crawl away.

"You are a tough one," Split Mushroom, and his copies, watch their victim crawl and do nothing to stop him. The show is too enjoyable to stop. "A normal human would be paralyzed by now, but you are still able to move. You are a fascinating creature that is for sure. I can't wait to see how the pink and orange one will react to my neurotoxin."

"I…" Sonic gasps and coughs, "…told you… to stay… away from them…!"

"Like you can stop me," Split Mushroom brings his arm forward and a tiny beam gun rises from his arm. "Time to die, little one."

Reploid feet landing at the opening diverts Split Mushroom's attention. He finds this newcomer has a unique, and special, buster pointed at him and recognizes him immediately.

"X!" both Split Mushroom and Jet Stingray shout.

"Let him go, Split!" X orders with his aim fixed on one of them.

Split Mushroom cackles yet again, "how do you know which of us is the real one?" A bit of a nervous tone is present in his voice.

X just smiles, "Because you haven't changed one bit. You always like to get the killing shot personally." The maverick hunter charges his X-Buster and fires a bright shot.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the real Split Mushroom screeches as the charged shot hits him dead center. His face his melted and caved in, while the electric twitching of his body hints of an impending explosion. His copies fizzle and vanish. X dashes over and roundhouse kicks the defeated maverick out of the building. After which the enemy blows apart in a brilliant cloud of dusty black and burning orange.

X wastes no time in coming to Sonic's aid. He does not know who or what, this creature is but he knows he needs help. The symptoms are heavy rapid breathing, intense sweating, and limbs twitching sharply.

"A neurotoxin," X whispers then takes a syringe, with a large needle attached to it, which is filled with a green liquid from his pack. '_If he was affected by Split's neurotoxin, then this means this person is completely biological and not a reploid. I hope this bio agent works on him._'

"Stay where you are Jet Stingray," X warns the remaining maverick, though it is actually a bluff.

"Yeah, right," Jet Stingray's jet pack is now functioning thanks to the nanobots. The sound of it starting up can be heard.

"Damn it," X tries to get a shot off, but is not able to.

Jet Stingray zooms past and out the window shouting, "Later suckers!" He does a victory laugh that is pretty much ruined after he bounces off a water tower. An array of swears come from the maverick as he escapes in an erratic flight path.

X puts his hand over his face. It is frustrating that he got away, but the maverick hunter has a more important task at the moment, saving a life.

"What's…" Sonic coughs as he stands again holding the syringe of green liquid, "this…?"

'_He's still able to stand?_' X is amazed at the hedgehog's level of endurance. "It's a bio agent, it'll eliminate the neurotoxin in your system, but you'll have to inject it directly into your heart."

"My… heart…?" Sonic wobbles and then drops to one knee. "I'm supposed to stab… myself in the heart… are you nuts?"

X knows there might not be much time, so he does something usually reserved for Zero. He walks up to the hedgehog and stabs the syringe in his chest at the heart, "Sorry, but no time to argue."

"Urk," Sonic's eye open wide and his pupils dilate, "Ack." He gasps due to the shock of having a large needle shoved into his heart. Various expressions appear on his face in a rotation, ranging from a shocked expression to a perplexed expression. His whole body stiffens up.

"Easy, easy," X gently guides him to a lying down position on the floor. "Relax and let the bio agent go to work." The hedgehog calmly passes out. X removes the syringe and places his hand over his patient's chest. He can feel the heart pumping steadily now. A quiet sigh of relief is let out. "Good, I wasn't too late."

"Hello? Anyone out there?" a familiar voice is heard over X's short-range communicator. He left it on and set it to filter out everything but other maverick hunter signals, and it seems to have just paid off.

"Zero?" X speaks through the communicator.

"X?" there is a brief moment of quiet, "Holy crap, it is you! Where the hell have you been?"

"Oh, you know," X casually speaks while placing a bandage over Sonic's chest and checking the heartbeat again, which is still steady and healthy. "I had a nice walk on the beach and so on."

"Oh that's just great," Zero sounds disgusted. "You get to have a fun time at the beach while I get tossed in jail!"

"So I heard," X starts checking Sonic for any broken bones or possible serious injuries, while talking with his friend, "Care to give me the details?"

Zero then tells him of what happened after he teleported into the crater with the blue glowing cylinder inside it.

"Same thing happened to me," X is surprised that he has not found any broken bones or severe injuries on Sonic. '_This little guy's tougher than he looks._' "So, where'd you end up after getting teleported?"

"Is that what you think happened to us?" Zero asks as he paces back-and-forth in the jail cell he is in that is a few miles from where X is.

"Seems kind of obvious at this point don't you think?" X replies as he looks around and listens for sirens, or anything indicating that help is on the way. He wonders why he has not heard any sirens yet.

"Yeah," Zero runs his fingers across the bars of his cell. He could break these bars easily if he really wanted to, "anyway I ended up on the roof of some shopping mall. I ended up encountering an odd jewel thief, some kind of bat creature. I thought she was a reploid, but now I'm not sure. She called herself, Rouge."

"If she was anything like my friend here then no she wasn't," X stands at the broken window. He can feel a calm breeze on his face. He still does not hear or see any emergency vehicles yet.

"Friend?" Zero peaks to see if anyone is coming down to check on him. His jailors did not know about the communication equipment built into his helmet and he wants to keep it that way. He does not see anyone. "What kind of friend?"

"A blue bi-pedal animal with blue spiked fur, red shoes, and the ability to outrun a Ride Chaser on foot," X spots a few far off cars and trucks with flashing lights moving towards the office building. The wail of sirens finally echoes through the city.

Zero ponders what X just told him, "You've been using Axl's psychedelic dream disks haven't you?"

X's face contorts into an expression a pure surprised confusion, "What? No! Damn it Zero, I'm serious! And how is my blue guy any stranger than your white bat?"

Zero laughs, "okay, okay. Where was I? Oh yeah, so this white bat ends up getting attacked by a maverick." The red clad maverick hunter leaves out the part where he crashed into a tree.

"A maverick?" X watches the emergency vehicles approaching on the streets, and notes how few there are. "Are you sure it was a maverick?"

Zero leans against the bars of his cell, "Well considering he called himself 'The Maverick' I'd say it's a clear bet. I beat him, but ended up getting away." The blonde haired reploid sighs, "I saved the bat and who knows how many people from being blown up by this guy and they throw me in jail for it!"

"Is that why you're in jail?" X can actually count the number of emergency vehicles with his hands, four police cars, two ambulances, and one fire truck.

"Pretty much, they gave me the whole 'we won't tolerate vigilantes in this town' and 'interfering with police business' speech," Zero smirks as he can hear the echoing sirens via the communicator, "Need any help? I could bust out of here and…"

"No, Zero," X blurts out before his friend can finish. "You're in enough trouble as it is. You don't need to make it worse for yourself."

"But I'm bored just sitting here. I could break these bars, punch-out a couple of cops, get my gear…" Zero jokes around.

"No," X points at the floor, grits his teeth and acts as if Zero is a misbehaving child right there in front of him, "stay in your cell! I mean it!"

"Okay, damn, I was just joking," Zero sighs. "Chances are the police will react to you the same way they did to me. So, I guess I'll be seeing you soon."

"I'll try talking to them. Maybe if I show them that…" X stops talking when he hears a lazy moan, as if someone had just woken up from a good nap. '_He's awake already?_' "Just sit tight, Zero. I'll get you out of there shortly. No breaking out of jail!"

"Yes, mom," Zero peaks again to see if anyone is coming down.

"Sometimes I wonder if it was better when you didn't have a sense of humor," X shakes his head.

"Bite me," Zero sees a silhouette at the tiny of window of the door to the jail cells, "oh crap, I got company coming. Just don't take all day getting me out." He cuts the signal before X can say anything.

Sonic rises to his feet and rubs his shoulder, "what hit me?"

"I can't believe you're awake already," the blue maverick hunter extends his hand out in order to greet the hedgehog properly. "My name is Mega Man X, but you can just call me X."

Sonic smiles and grips the reploid's hand, "the name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog." They shake each other's hand to make the greeting complete. "Thanks for save by the way."

"It's my duty to help those in need," X is amazed at how fast this hedgehog has bounced back after being poison by a neurotoxin. Of course, his is amazed at how fast he is period.

"Hey, where'd fly boy and that freaky mushroom guy go?" Sonic asks after noticing the two mavericks he had fought are missing.

"You must mean Jet Stingray and Split Mushroom," X states. "The first got away, but I destroyed the second."

"What was the deal with those two anyway?" Sonic asks.

X sighs with a saddened look on his face, "There were what we call 'mavericks,' and often times destroying them is the only option. Just once I wish it didn't have to go that far."

Sonic can tell X does not find joy in destroying these mavericks, in fact he can tell by the expression that the issue is stressful for him. The blue hedgehog decides to change the subject. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Pretty obvious isn't it?" X's mood improves some. "Let's just say that I'm from far away, at least I think I am. See, I'm not quite sure how I got here, and I'm not the only one."

"Don't move!" four G.U.N. soldiers appear with their weapons draw at X and interrupt the conversation.

"Whoa, whoa!" Sonic steps in front of X and the soldier's aim. "Why do you guys always jump to conclusions? This guy's all good, I'll vouch for him."

"I don't know," one soldier says.

"Hey, don't forget who you're talking to here," Sonic waves his finger in the air. "What would my friend the Commander say? What would Shadow say?"

The mention of those two make the soldiers back down completely with the one who spoke before saying, "yes sir, sorry sir." Sonic gives X the thumbs up.

As if on queue, Sonic's wristwatch that survived the fight with Split Mushroom intact begins to make a rapid beeping noise.

"Who's that calling?" basic logic tells X that the watch is actually a communicator. Reploid's can think much more logically than humans can.

"It's Tails, my best bud," Sonic pushes a button on the side of the watch with his thumb. "Tails, what's up?"

"Sonic!" Tails yells through the communicator. It becomes apparent this is not a social call. "Shadow's in big trouble! I just got a transmission from Omega. He's calling everyone! He sounds worried, Omega sounds worried!"

"What?" Sonic is shocked. Being a robot, Omega is not known for being emotional. So, for him to sound worried must mean something really bad is happening. "Tails, calm down. What's going on?"

"Some kind of… I don't know…" Tails steadies his breathing, "some kind of birdman is fighting him. I think Shadow is losing!"

"Birdman?" X whispers, the memories of the multitude of bird-like mavericks he had fought in the past run through his mind. "Ask him what this birdman looks like."

"Wha?" Sonic nods, "Do you know what this birdman looks like?"

"Omega says he is red and orange with flames coming out of his armor," the fox answers. "He says he's burning everything… and everyone!"

X knows whom he is talking about, "Blaze Heatnix!"

"You know the guy?" Sonic is surprised that his new friend knows who the birdman Tails described is.

"Yes, he's a maverick!" X is puzzled as to why all these mavericks from his past are suddenly showing up, "And he's extremely dangerous!"

"I'll pick you up in the Tornado 3," Tails states over the wrist communicator.

"Okay, but get the new four-seater," Sonic requests.

"The Tornado 4? Why?"

"Because I've got a new friend here who needs a lift."

(To Be Continued…)


	4. Power Struggle

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or Mega Man X. Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man X, and all related characters are copyright: Sega and Capcom. So in a way this fanfic belongs to them, even though I am writing it. This story is available free for reading by the public. Dr. Trek and "The Maverick" are copyright me though; I did essentially make them up. All rights reserved.

Notice: This fanfic does contain violence, (nothing ultra gory though), and minor harsh language.

* * *

**Merger**

Chapter Four: Power Struggle

Mobius, 2011

"Well look who has come to visit me," Zero looks at his visitor as he lies against the wall with his hands behind his head. He notices the bandage over her nose, and the distressed and angry expression on her face.

"What the hell is going on!" she shouts.

"What? I haven't done anything!" Zero frowns.

"Explain to me who this is!" Rouge shows Zero her phone, which has live video of a black and red hedgehog fighting a flaming bird-like man. "I don't know how, but I know you have something to do with this! That's my friend out there fighting… whatever that thing is!"

Zero sits up when he sees the bird-like man, "Holy hell."

Rouge growls and shows her fangs, "So you do know him!"

"Yeah, I know him," Zero walks up to the bars, "but he's no friend of mine! Let me out of here!"

"What!" Rouge takes a step back. She's about ready to kick him through the bars. "I'm not going to let you out!"

"Damn it, that's a maverick out there!" Zero looks Rouge right in the eyes. "Just like that nut job that attacked you in the mall, but a thousand times worse! You'll need my help."

"Ma'am," a G.U.N. soldier calls from the other room, "the chopper is ready to leave."

Rouge swallows as she considers her options. Does she dare trust this man? She looks up at Zero and then nods, "Alright. Someone get the jail keys!"

"Don't bother," Zero forces the cell door open like it was made out of paper. "I need my swords."

Rouge is awestruck. He could have broken out of jail with ease and yet he did not. She smiles at him, "you're just full of surprises aren't you, pretty boy?"

Zero gives of a growling sigh, "Will you stop calling me that?"

Everything is burning. The tents are burning, the equipment is burning, the ground is burning, plants are burning, and bodies are burning. E-123 Omega scans the area and finds his ally Shadow the Hedgehog locked in battle with a foe of incredible power. The robot activates his boosters. The messages have been sent and he is not about to let his friend battle this monster alone.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow fires a yellow energy bolt at his enemy, but the enemy dodges the attack and retaliates with a wave of fire. Shadow ducks behind a rock and avoids the attack, but has to move away fast as a talon lands on it with crushing force.

Blaze Heatnix is enjoying this fight. He has not had a fight this good since his battle against X and Zero. He does not remember the whole fight. It is actually hard to recall one's own death. He does remember the exhilaration of the battle as he finally faced off against enemies that had a chance against him. This opponent is just like those two were in his eyes, a worthy foe. He recalls the first blows they exchanged.

Moments earlier…

"Damn it all to hell!" Shadow charges a cluster of energy in his hand. "Chaos… Spear!" the ebony hedgehog lets loose a yellow bolt of energy at Blaze Heatnix, who directs the palm of his hand forward and unleashes long burst of fire. The attacks pass each other and are dodged by their intended targets.

Blaze Heatnix calmly watches as Shadow's spear bounces off the shielding of the cylinder and strikes the side of the crater, and sends junk that use to be part of Eggman's base spinning into the air.

Shadow rolls away to only hear the screams of people as the attack he just avoided tears through the G.U.N. encampment. The attack then explodes into a napalm inferno when it reaches some research equipment. He watches the mayhem ensues and growls like a wolf. He takes out a green gem and holds it tightly, "Chaos… Control!" The red and black hedgehog vanishes in a flash of light.

"Hmmm?" Blaze Heatnix glances around. "Ha, run away have…" a white and red shoe strikes him on the side of the face. The hit slams him into the ground creating a cloud of dust.

The ebony hedgehog juggles the green gem, a Chaos Emerald, in his right hand. "You have no idea who you are up against."

Two eyes flash red from within the dust cloud, "Enlighten me."

"I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form!"

"Ultimate Life Form?" Blaze Heatnix laughs. A single synchronized flap of his wings clears away the dust. "What an arrogant, and pathetic, title."

Shadow growls at this monster insulting his prized title, "and just who are you?"

"I am Blaze Heatnix," the flames on the maverick's armor flare up, "the Eternal Flame of Death!"

"Talk about an arrogant title," Shadow laughs, "Chaos Control!" Again, he vanishes in a flash of light.

Blaze Heatnix's eyes glow red and the flames on his armor grow larger. Shadow appears behind him, but the maverick is ready this time. "Magma Flame!"

One second he is looking at his opponent's backside, the next Shadow is twirling out of control and there is red and blue fire all around him. His body drills a bit into the ground when he lands. All he can hear are screams and the intense roar of monstrous flames. If it was not for his Chaos Control, Shadow's voice would have joined those screams. He uses the ability to avoid a wall of fire rushing towards him.

Present time…

Shadow's jet shoes help propel him forward as he speeds along the scorched ground. He swerves around burning vehicles and walls of fire. Blaze Heatnix flies past him and turns to face the hedgehog, while still flying. '_Damn, I don't believe this! He's faster than me?_' The maverick extends his hands forward and fires twisting vortexes of flame that ignite the ground at Shadow's feet.

The jet black hedgehog leaps forward to get away from heated ground, and attempt to kick Blaze Heatnix. The forward kick misses and Shadow does a swinging kick, but that is avoided as well. He lands and his hands glow yellow. "Chaos Spear!" He launches numerous energy spears in succession. The moment he throws the last spear he spins and dashes off in his foe's direction with a booming burst of speed.

Blaze Heatnix moves side-to-side avoiding the energy spears thrown by Shadow. He sees his enemy rushing towards a piece of ground that has been torn up and now resembles a battle scarred skate ramp. He knows the spears are a distraction and the hedgehog intends to launch himself at the maverick from below. Thus, he kicks the last spear straight down. It heads right for Shadow who is already air born after hitting the ramp. Shadow comes out of his spin, catches the Chaos Spear, and throws it right back at his opponent.

Blaze Heatnix's eyes widen. The spear bursts when it hits him. Shadow then lands a firm kick to the maverick's abdomen. He hangs in the air face to face with him and glares. "You thought you could hit me with my own attack?"

Shadow strikes with a barrage of punches to Blaze Heatnix's head and a barrage of kicks to his body before grabbing him by the throat. "Let's see you survive this!" Shadow's eyes and stripes glow a vicious red, "Chaos… Blast!"

A spherical explosion of chaos energy erupts from Shadow. The shockwave from the attack snuffs out the flames. The land rumbles as the ball of energy begins to touch the ground. The cylinder seems to react to the energy as its shielding starts to pulsate rapidly.

Blaze Heatnix can feel the energy from the attack pounding and cutting into him. It is so intense that he cannot move or reignite his flames. Shadow keeps his grip on the maverick's throat. An almost sadistic smirk appears on his face as hears his enemy suffer in pain. Finally he releases his grip and the force of the Chaos Blast jerks the maverick to the ground with a violent crash.

The attack dissipates and Shadow lands near a smoking hole in the ground. He takes a deep breath and laughs, "Now you know why they call me the Ultimate Life Form."

The inside of the hole glows orange and twisting flames shoot out of it. An explosion turns to hole into a miniature crater. Blaze Heatnix's armor is dented with a few superficial cracks around it. He laughs like he is actually happy about receiving real damage. "Outstanding! You actually hurt me! You are indeed a worthy foe!"

Shadow clinches his fists and growls, "I've had enough of you!" "Chaos… urk!" he finds the tables turned. His throat is now in the grip of the maverick, who rushed him in a blink of an eye.

Blaze Heatnix laughs again, "You maybe the Ultimate Life Form, but you are still just a mere life form. A bag of flesh and meat is nothing compared to the power of a maverick reploid!"

Shadow yells in pain as fire encircles him and a blast of hot energy sends him through a boulder. The dust from hitting the boulder helps suffocate the flames and the rest are put out after the he rolls on the ground a few times.

"Now, it's time to… ugh!" an army of high caliber bullets ram into Blaze Heatnix. E-123 Omega lands and points his machine guns at the maverick.

"Shadow are you injured?" the robot asks.

"I told you to call for help!" Shadow shouts fearing for the safety of his mechanical friend.

"I have accomplished that objective. Reinforcements will arrive shortly."

"No, get out of here! I can handle this!"

"You are in need of assistance."

"I said get out of here, Omega!"

"You," Blaze Heatnix eyes Omega with a furious glare, "worthless, obsolete piece of junk! How dare you try to interfere?"

The word "obsolete" causes Omega's eyes to flash and his machine guns start to spin, "I will demonstrate who is…"

"Silence, you pest!" Blaze Heatnix whips his arm around and shoots a wave of fire that cuts Omega in half at the waist.

"OMEGA!" Shadow can feel his heart sink as he watches his friend separate in two. Omega's legs fall to their knees and then collapse forward. His top half slides down the slope behind him.

The now half-a-robot digs his hand into the ground to stop himself. His A.I. is having trouble fathoming what just happened to him. He was sliced in two as if he was just a common consumer model. Omega's eyes glow with an angry tone. He turns himself over, and slowly starts to claw and pull his way back up the slope.

"You will pay for that!" Shadow clinches the green Chaos Emerald in his hand.

Blaze Heatnix eyes the Emerald, "So that's what a Chaos Emerald looks like." The fire of his armor bursts to life and he swiftly raises a hand to the sky.

Shadow gasps and covers his face with his arms as twisting flames pop out the ground and dance around him in a tight circle. His entire body feels the heat. He wonders if this is what a lobster feels when it is boiled alive. He hisses in pain as the heated Emerald he is holding begins to sting his hand. He has to get away from this now. "Chaos Control!"

Blaze Heatnix laughs quietly to himself when he spots a flash of light nearby. His whole body engulfs into violent fire. He flies towards where the flash of light occurred leaving a trail of heat in the air. It is almost as if he is setting the air ablaze.

Shadow pants with his eyes closed as he feels his fur and skin beginning to cool off. Suddenly, he feels a sharp burning pain on his chest. A force is pressing against him and violently shoving him back. He eyes jolt open because of the pain and he sees the source. Blaze Heatnix's talon his pressing against his chest. The maverick looks like he is made entirely out of fire at this point. The green Chaos Emerald is forced from Shadow's grasp. The Ultimate Life Form slams into the ground a distance away from where he was. His vision blurs in and out. Every attempt to move is futile as his body just does not have the energy to do it anymore. He maintains conciseness however.

Blaze Heatnix's flames die down to their normal levels and he catches the green Chaos Emerald as it falls. "Not what I came here to get, but getting it will only put us ahead of schedule." The maverick gives the Emerald a quick visual inspection before turning his attention to his defeated opponent. "You fought well," he speaks loud enough to hear without resorting to shouting, "however, this fight is mine."

"It's… not over…" Shadow tries to will his body to move, "I will not lose to you…" His attempts to move are in vain. His body just cannot recover fast enough from the beating he has endured.

"Trying to fight to the bitter end are we? Typical," Blaze Heatnix rubs the underside of his beak. "Do I just kill you now, or let you live in the hopes you can give me another entertaining battle in the future?"

Two sounds echoing through the mountains gain Blaze Heatnix's attention. The sounds are that of a transport helicopter and that of a twin propeller airplane. The maverick turns to see two aircraft headed towards the area. One is a gun metal colored Chinook helicopter with a "G" symbol on the side and the letters "G.U.N." beneath it. The other is an orange and white airplane with a streamlined body design. It has a propeller engine on each wing. The fuselage has the word "Tornado" across the side in white and the number "4" is behind it in black with a red outline. The fuselage also has two cockpit canopies. Though they are coming from the same general direction, they are not flying together. The airplane is closer than the helicopter.

"It looks like a war zone here," Tails leans his head out and gazes at the devastated ground. He notes numerous destroyed vehicles and tents littering the burnt and blackened ground.

"What kind of monster could do all this?" Sonic sits next to Tails in the front cockpit.

"That kind," X leans out from the rear cockpit and points towards the cylinder, more specifically the figures standing near the edge of the crater that houses it.

"Is that one of those 'mavericks' you talked about?" Tails asks. He already got introduced to X and had a brief discussion with him during the flight.

"Yes," X tenses up a bit, "he is extremely dangerous. I can't believe someone actually rebuilt him."

"Well," Sonic hops out of his seat and stands on the fuselage between the two cockpits. "Let's give him a proper greeting. Bring the plane lower, Tails."

Tails pushes the flight stick down and the Tornado 4 glides to a much lower altitude.

"Wait," X tries to get Sonic to reconsider his actions but the blue hedgehog jumps off and hits the ground running. "Is he crazy?"

"Need me to get closer?" Tails asks.

"No," X answers wondering if this fox is as crazy as the hedgehog is, "keep your distance, please." The blue reploid jumps out of the plane and dashes after Sonic.

"That's X!" Zero sees his friend jump from the plane that just went low to the ground. "Put this thing on the ground."

"Shouldn't we get closer?" the helicopter pilot asks.

"Not unless you feel like getting ripped apart and burned alive by that maverick over there," Zero's response makes the pilot and co-pilot gulp.

"Better do as he says boys," Rouge orders. The pilot proceeds to land the helicopter on an undamaged patch of ground a distance from the crater.

"Well," Blaze Heatnix crosses his arms and looks at Shadow, "this is getting interesting. I take it those are more friends of yours."

"If it's who I think it is," Shadow gives a half smirk, "then you're in for the fight of your life."

"We shall see," Blaze Heatnix watches the blue hedgehog approaching fast. However, he spots another blue person approaching as well. His eyes widen and his flames flare up, "What the? X?"

The sound of Shadow laughing, and coughing, makes the maverick sneer. "What's the matter? Someone you know come to ruin your fun?"

Sonic has his usual confident smirk as he runs, but it fades when he gets closer and sees the destruction Blaze Heatnix caused up close. The smell is horrid. Every step he takes sends ash into the air. He spots something big, black and red trying crawl up a slope. "Omega?" He runs over and sees the condition the robot is in. "Omega! What happened to you?"

Omega's head turns around, "I have been severely damaged."

"No kidding!" Sonic gestures at where Omega's legs are suppose to be. "Where are your legs?"

"Do not worry about my wellbeing," Omega slides down the slope a bit. "Shadow is battling an enemy of considerable power. He is in need of assistance."

"Are you sure you'll…" Sonic begins to ask.

"Go now!" Omega interrupts, "You can return for me at a latter time."

"Okay," Sonic speeds up the slope, "I'll send Tails to help you out when I get the chance!"

Omega watches the speeding the hedgehog barrel up the slope and quietly utters, "Take precaution."

Sonic slides to a stop when he reaches Blaze Heatnix. "Okay, psycho! Where's Sha…" he sees the black and red hedgehog lying on the ground, hurt, in the distance, "Shadow!" Sonic's concerned outburst is met with laughter from the maverick. Sonic swings his arm out to his side, "What's the matter with you? Why would you do all this?"

"Are you the one who suppose to give me the fight of my life?" Blaze Heatnix looks over Sonic with an unimpressed expression. "This world is so pathetic. Ugh!" the maverick is forced to duck to avoid a blue ball of energy.

"Surrender Blaze Heatnix," X readies his X-Buster with another charged shot. "You're already damaged, and I've beaten you before."

Sonic whistles, impressed with X's display of firepower.

"With the help of your friend Zero who's…" Blaze Heatnix notices a bat like figure approaching the scene, and then notices the red figure with blonde hair with it. "No, it can't be!"

"Yo, X!" Zero yells out to his fellow maverick hunter. "Save some for me will ya?"

X smiles, "You were saying?"

"Alright!" Sonic cheers, his confident smirk returning to his face.

"Humph, looks like I won't be able to secure the cylinder after all," Blaze Heatnix juggles the green Chaos Emerald in his hand a couple of times. "But at least I have this."

"That's a Chaos Emerald!" Sonic loses he confident smirk again. He spins into a ball and rushes at the maverick.

Blaze Heatnix leaps into a vertical flight a split-second before Sonic reaches him. X fires his charged shot at him, but misses when he changes direction. A fading orange trail is left in the air as the phoenix maverick flies away. Though he was forced to retreat, for him this battle was a victory.

"Ah, damn it!" Zero curses as he watches the enemy make his escape.

"Shadow!" both Sonic and Rouge utter as they approach the injured hedgehog.

Shadow opens his eyes, "Where is he?"

"Who?" Sonic asks an unintentionally stupid question.

"The pyromaniac bird!" Shadow grabs Sonic by the arm.

"Ow, he got away," Sonic rubs his arm after it is let go of.

Shadow sighs, surprisingly, in relief, "Good, he's mine you understand? I owe him!"

Both Sonic and Rouge sigh, "Same old Shadow."

"Are you going to be okay?" Rouge asks.

"Yeah, just give me a couple of minutes," Shadow tries to move again. He can only get up so much before his muscles protest with pain, "Urk… better make that a couple of hours."

Rouge pats the ebony hedgehog on the head, much to his dislike, "You'll be fine."

"Zero," X greets his best friend by brings up his arm. "I thought you were in jail."

"They let me out on good behavior," Zero brings up his arm too and the two reploids hit their forearms together. It is their version of a high-five.

The Tornado 4 flies overhead. Its wings rotate upwards causing the propellers to face the sky. This allows the airplane to hover like a helicopter, and land like one too. Once it is securely on the ground and the engines fully shut off, Tails hopes out and runs over.

Zero rubs his helmet, "You've been meeting all shorts of characters haven't you?"

X simply shrugs his shoulders.

Angel Island maybe far from the crater, but Knuckles can still feel a lot of Chaos Energy from the direction it is from, and all of it is negative energy. The Master Emerald has stopped glowing and shaking, which means no more negative energy is entering this world. However, there is still a significant amount present, and all of it is at whatever location the odd phenomenon the echidna felt earlier occurred. Knuckles wants to go find where the energy is located, but does not want to leave the Master Emerald, or bring it to anywhere it might be at risk. He looks down at another piece of treasure he found on the island, the yellow Chaos Emerald. Knuckles picks up the Emerald and calmly looks at it. While rare, the Emeralds have been known to end up on Angel Island after their ritualistic scattering.

Blades of grass are gently bent by carefully moving odd shaped and practically invisible appendages. A cybernetic eye, concealed by the cloaking device its owner is using, scans the emerald shrine and all that surrounds it. This visitor to the floating island hides behind some of the native plant life even though he is cloaked. The visitor scans the Master Emerald, which he can barely see, sitting on top of the shrine. His sensors read "error" and are unable to give his any stats on the giant gem. He then scans the yellow Chaos Emerald and a series of four-digit numbers appear on his HUD. Satisfied with the readings, he then scans the echidna holding the Emerald in his hand, Knuckles. The scanner gives him no number reading, but instead tells him the echidna is completely biological. The visitor then moves silently around the plants he was hiding behind and proceeds to sneak up to the emerald shrine. With great care, he begins his ascent up the side of the shrine.

Knuckles sits at the first step of the shrine and listens to the wind. "I wonder what Sonic is doing," he says to no one, though his words are heard.

The echidna often speaks his thoughts out loud when alone on the island. Perhaps, stating he was speaking to no one was incorrect. Perhaps, he is talking to the Master Emerald.

The cloaked visitor gazes upon the Master Emerald with admiration now that he is closer to it. In fact, he is right next to it. Though he finds the large jewel quite impressive, it is not his objective. The objective is in the hand of the echidna. He makes a slight gasping sound when the communicator in his head goes off. The noise from the communicator is only in the visitor's head, but he worries this island's only apparent inhabitant heard the gasp. He quickly and quietly backs up and hides behind the Master Emerald. He looks to see if the echidna heard him. It does not seem that way, since he has not moved from his spot. The visitor gives an internal sigh of relief then answers his communicator, making sure the coming conversation is only heard within the confines of his head. The ability to use a communicator without having to speak out loud is indeed handy for a stealth reploid.

"Sting Chameleon," the voice over the communicator speaks, "where are you?"

"Vile," Sting Chameleon grumbles, "you picked the worst time to call."

"Storm Eagle just informed me that you left the base without permission," Vile's voice sounds rather displeased.

"Calm down," Sting Chameleon looks to see if Knuckles has moved any or not, and sees him still sitting in the same spot. "I'm scouting the surrounding areas."

"That task was giving to Split Mushroom…" Vile begins to state.

"And he's dead now," Sting Chameleon interrupts.

"How did you find out?"

"A dented flying fish told me."

"Wait, you meet up with Jet Stingray?"

"I came across him on my way out. The idiot almost hit my Metal Hawk."

Vile sighs, "Just return to the base."

"Why?" Sting Chameleon asks. Again, he checks on the echidna to make sure he is still in the same spot.

"What do you mean, 'why!'" Vile's outburst over the communicator gives Sting Chameleon a brief migraine.

"Keep your voice down," the lizard maverick complains. "You're giving me a headache. I should have been picked for the scouting mission to begin with. My sensors may not be as detailed as his was, but I can finish the mission just fine."

Vile does not reply right away as he thinks over what Sting Chameleon said. "Fine," he responds, "but do not attack anyone. We don't need any more attention then we already have right now."

"Understood, Sting Chameleon over and out," the maverick turns off his communicator. '_Don't attack anyone, ha! This Vile is weak compared to the others._' He sneaks out from behind the Master Emerald and sees Knuckles still sitting in the same spot. It looks as if his is dosing.

This is his chance to get the Chaos Emerald, and perhaps kill the echidna. This floating island would make a good base after all. He begins to slowly and quietly stalk towards the echidna like the predator he is. Closer and closer, he moves towards his prey until he is right behind him.

Knuckles allows his mind to relax. The island is quiet like it normally is. Only the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind can be heard. An invisible tail silently and slowly rears up behind the echidna. Sting Chameleon stands right over him. He does not utter a sound and positions himself delicately. The maverick is ready for the kill.

"Humph," Knuckles' eyes snap open.

'_What?_' Sting Chameleon only has time to contemplate that one word before a pair of spiked-shaped knuckles plow into his jaw. The dazing strike forces the maverick to uncloak.

After hitting him in the jaw, Knuckles then grabs and throws the intruder down the steps of the Master Emerald's shrine. Sting Chameleon tumbles all the down the stairs to the base of the shrine. He is quick to spring to his feet and turns to look up at the echidna.

"Nice try, but you can't sneak up on me that easily," Knuckles cracks his knuckles. "Now are you going to tell me who you are and who you work for, or am I going to have to beat it out of you?"

"How did you know?" Sting Chameleon asks. He is stunned that Knuckles detected him so easily.

"How did I know you were there? Simple," Knuckles grins, "I know a guy who can do the same trick."

Sting Chameleon's standard eye narrows.

"I answered your question, now answer mine!" Knuckles demands with a firm stomp of his foot that seems to make area bounce. "Who are you and who do you work for? Is it Eggman? Are you some kind of new Eggman robot here to steal the Master Emerald?"

"My name is Sting Chameleon," the lizard maverick squats, "and that is all you need to know!" He pushes himself off the ground and jumps into the air. He clears the stairs of the shrine is a single leap. While in the air, he fires three green beams, his Chameleon Sting, at Knuckles from his tail.

Knuckles jumps up and dodges the attack. This simple move also allows him to land a punch to the maverick's midsection. Again, he throws the maverick to the ground at the base of the shrine. When he lands, the echidna rushes his enemy and reaches him right as he is getting back up.

"I can't believe how strong he…" Sting Chameleon sees Knuckles rushing at him. "Damn!" is the extent of the reaction he can do before he is assaulted by a barrage of punches. He is sent sliding across the ground with the last hit.

"You're going to have to do better than that if you want to beat me," Knuckles keeps his fists raised up like a professional boxer.

"Good advice," Sting Chameleon's body becomes wavy. "Time to step things up a bit," the maverick's cloaking device blends him into the environment.

"Gone invisible have we?" Knuckles looks and listens carefully for anything out of the ordinary. "Where are you?"

'_Time to call for back up,_' Sting Chameleon is clinging to a pillar, but knows there is a good chance the echidna will detect him again if he attacks. So a distraction is needed. He sends out a signal to his Metal Hawk hovering underneath the floating island. His custom Metal Hawk has the same box-with-wings design as the others that were used by Repliforce's air fleet, but with a green paint job instead of the standard blue. It also has one extra feature, a cloaking device. The engines start up and the vehicle cloaks before heading off.

Knuckles starts to tap his foot, "I know you're here somewhere! You can't hide forever coward!" He then hears the sound of a jet approaching. "What now?"

Sting Chameleon's Metal Hawk comes out of cloak and opens fire on the echidna with its twin-blasters. Knuckles dives out of the line of fire easily, but then feels his leg in a snake-like grip. He looks down to see Sting Chameleon's tongue wrapped around his leg.

The maverick whips his head around and spins the red echidna around in a circle before repeatedly slamming him into the ground. He then throws him against a pillar, which cracks the ancient structure.

Knuckles glares at Sting Chameleon and does not seem to be really hurt despite being in the pillar. He pops out of the indentation left by the impact and dusts off his shoulders, "Okay, now I'm angry."

"What the hell are you made of?" Sting Chameleon directs his Metal Hawk to fire a missile at his enemy. The missile flies towards its target. Pieces of pillar and rock fly through the air as it hits the mark. As the dust settles, the maverick sees no signs of the echidna. He lets out a victory snicker, but the celebration is premature. A fist with spiked knuckles bursts from the ground beneath him. It connects with his jaw, again. The maverick is lifted into the air for a moment before landing on his back.

"I'll give you one chance to get off my island," Knuckles spits. "I suggest you take it."

The Metal Hawk opens fire with its blasters at Knuckles. He avoids the first barrage of shots, but has to keep moving as the aircraft follows him while shooting. Sting Chameleon gets up and waits for the echidna to get closer. When he does the maverick lashes out with his tongue again.

"Not this time," Knuckles grabs the tongue, "got your… OW!" He is forced to let go when tiny spikes come out of the tongue and stab his hand. Sting Chameleon snickers and opens fire with his Chameleon Sting.

Knuckles blows on his hand as he runs and dodges the shots from the maverick and the aircraft. "Okay, now I'm really angry!" He climbs up a tall pillar as fast as he can. The Metal Hawk fires another missile. He jumps off the pillar before it is destroyed, and takes flight towards the attacking aircraft.

"He can fly too?" Sting Chameleon pounds his tail into the ground in frustration. What was supposed to be an easy kill has turned into a real hassle.

"Let's see how well you do without your toy," Knuckles gets ready to smash the Metal Hawk, but it flies left and cloaks. "Dang!" The Metal Hawk reappears behind him and fires. He drops to the ground to avoid the shots. Again, he finds himself having to run as the aircraft follows him. The shots from the blasters nip at his feet.

Sting Chameleon growls, "This is ridiculous! That runt should be dead by now!" He spots something gleaming and yellow at the top of the shrine. "Wait is that? The Chaos Emerald!" Seizing this opportunity he leaps up to the shrine and grabs the Emerald with his tongue, '_That idiot actually forgot this._'

Knuckles, while still running from the Metal Hawk, spots the maverick at the shrine holding the Chaos Emerald and smacks himself in the head, "Stupid! Of course, he's after the Chaos Emerald!" He then heads for the shrine has fast as his legs can take him, which is quite fast. "That doesn't belong to you!"

"What?" Sting Chameleon moves out of the path of the charging echidna. He feels a tug at his tail.

Knuckles grips the maverick's tail and begins to spin him around by it. "Happy trails!" He flings his opponent towards the approaching Metal Hawk.

Sting Chameleon smirks as the Metal Hawk dips its nose down so that the flat top of it is facing the maverick. He extends out his arms and legs to slow himself down and sticks to his aircraft. The canopy of the aircraft opens and the lizard maverick tosses the Emerald inside. He waves at the flabbergasted echidna, "Thanks for the help, moron!"

Knuckles stands there with his mouth agape as he watches Sting Chameleon hop in the Metal Hawk and fly off, laughing all the way. After the aircraft gains a little distance it cloaks. The island is quiet again except for the breeze. Knuckles smacks his forehead, and the sound echoes through the mountains of Angel Island.

"He may have been strong, but he was a total idiot," Sting Chameleon snickers as he pilots his aircraft back to the base. He receives a call on the Metal Hawk's communicator, not the one in his head. He presses a button as if he was expecting this call.

"Did you get it?" the voice asks in an oddly soft-spoken tone.

"Yeah," Sting Chameleon looks at the Chaos Emerald, "it was right where you said it would be. I had a little trouble getting it, but it worked out in the end."

"Good," the sound of a metal tool being placed on a table is heard, "Blaze Heatnix had the fortune of finding one as well. So we are now ahead of schedule."

"Nice," Sting Chameleon presses a few buttons on the control panel, "I'm heading back now. Vile is starting to get suspicious."

"Vile is of little concern," the voice has now changed to a much deeper and disguised tone, "he will be too busy worrying about the maverick hunters who have arrived on this world. Besides, when his usefulness ends so will his life."

"Maverick hunters?" Sting Chameleon's concerned voice asks over the old COM radio sitting on the table. "What maverick hunters?"

"X and Zero," a figure concealed by the darkness of the room answers.

"What?" Sting Chameleon's voice now sounds angry and stressed.

"Don't fret, there is someone on this world who can aid us in dealing with them," a large metal claw opens and glows briefly. The glow reflects in the visor of The Maverick's helmet.

(To Be Continued…)


End file.
